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| Two brothers, Richard and Anthony, return to their hometown. Setting up camp in the hills overlooking the town, they reminisce over their past. But Richard has not returned for the memories, he's returned for revenge...
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Here's what our members thought of this title. 5 stars = very good, 1 star = poor.
 |  | "God will forgive them. He’ll forgive them and allow them into Heaven. I can’t live with that."
An amazing British crime flick, in its own way every bit as good as Goodfellas and The Godfather, Dead Man’s Shoes is a tale of "human justice" from the incomparable Shane Meadows, director of Twenty Four Seven and A Room For Romeo Brass. Inspired by a disturbing event from Meadows’ own past – as a lad he watched a skinhead mate beat a man half to death – Dead Man’s Shoes is destined to be regarded as one of the greatest British movies of 2005.
A bloody tale of vengeance made and played with absolute realism, this movie will freeze you in your seat and stay with you long after it’s over. Rarely does a film manage to touch people’s hearts while at the same time shocking them to the core. Without a doubt it’s the best movie yet from Meadows, which considering his track record is high praise indeed.
For Woody Allen it’s New York. For John Walters it’s Baltimore. And for Shane Meadows it’s the Midlands, muted green and grey, local shops for local people, crime forever unchecked and desperate trouble behind every door. This is the world of Dead Man’s Shoes, a backdrop which sets it instantly apart from virtually every other crime movie in existence.
Walking purposefully towards the village of his youth, ex-army hard man Richard (Paddy Considine) hooks up with his sweetly simple younger brother Anthony (Toby Kebbell), on whose behalf he sets out on an uncompromising course of revenge. Apparently some stuff went down while Richard was away fighting for Queen and country. Stuff that saw poor unfortunate Anthony falling into the clutches of a barely organised gang of drug-addled, sleep-deprived criminals. They made him their pet, robbed him of his innocence, terrorised and humiliated him at every opportunity. The full extent of their torments are only revealed towards the very end of the movie, though, so rather than spoil the horrible surprise, let’s just leave it at, "Oh my God!"
Meanwhile, Richard is hard at work identifying and intimidating his targets. Scar-faced Sonny (Gary Stretch) is by far the worst of the lot, a truly nasty piece of work in obvious need of extermination, mean and dumb, though maybe not quite as stupid as his useless minions.
Dressed head-to-toe in a green boiler suit and gas mask, Richard is the bogyman incarnate, an iconic image right up there with Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle posing with his gun. Picking his victims off one by one with chilling clarity of thought and presence of mind, even though his actions are fairly well justified, Richard can’t help but come across as a psycho. Yet with his brother Anthony he’s loving and patient. Truly one of the most interesting characters to come along in ages, one you can’t help feeling for, even while he’s stabbing, chopping, shooting or simply smacking the life out of someone.
Paddy Considine is really the most amazing actor, because he never simply plays a role. He inhabits a character and becomes another person entirely. You never catch him acting - Everything he does looks real. Every tortured, terrifying glance. Every awful rage-fuelled word. When Paddy’s on screen it’s like you’re hypnotised. Yet he’s not the type to hog the screen, developing a strong and believable bond with talented newcomer Toby Kebbell. And though several members of the remaining cast weren’t even professional actors, everyone in this movie does a magnificent job and we defy you to tell the new guys apart from the pros.
All hail Shane Meadows, then, for making something unique and honest and powerful and, most important of all, supremely entertaining. See that you add it to your list.
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