{"id":38643,"date":"2023-01-24T12:12:03","date_gmt":"2023-01-24T17:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=38643"},"modified":"2023-01-24T12:27:10","modified_gmt":"2023-01-24T17:27:10","slug":"you-have-to-see-this-dead-mans-shoes-2004","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/24\/you-have-to-see-this-dead-mans-shoes-2004\/","title":{"rendered":"You Have to See This! Dead Man\u2019s Shoes (2004)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\u201cWhen they get to heaven they\u2019ll be forgiven. God will forgive them and let them in. And I can\u2019t live with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been a fan of Paddy Considine\u2019s since I saw him in his utterly frightening performance as a mentally imbalanced recluse in \u201cA Room for Romeo Brass<\/a>.\u201d I also loved him in the schmaltzy albeit well-intentioned family drama in \u201cIn America<\/a>,\u201d and he flexes his keen ability to be both menacing and vulnerable with Shane Meadows\u2019 \u201cDead Man\u2019s Shoes\u201d. Meadows\u2019 revenge thriller is a very visceral revenge film that delves in the fall out from the breaking of a cardinal rule: Don\u2019t ever fuck with a man\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

After returning from the military, Richard discovers that his mentally unstable younger brother has been befriended a group of gangsters who proceeded in taking advantage of him and brutally abusing him. Now he wants payback, and he won\u2019t relent until every one of them suffers a brutal death. There\u2019s nothing I love more than a good revenge flick; and director Shane Meadows pulls off a masterful hybrid of crime thriller, revenge film, and a slasher right down to the masked maniac that Richard becomes. Richard is a soldier who has seen enough violence, and can sneak in and do his job, and he does so in the most unspectacular ways.<\/p>\n

Richard is a mentally unstable war veteran who just wants to make sure the people that hurt his brother pay, and Considine\u2019s Richard is an utterly frightening anti-hero who performs his acts of vengeance without a pause, and gives a large satisfied smile with every act. And for good reason. His methods of revenge begin with a comedic tone as the gangsters begin turning on one another, and finding humor in the prankster that smashes their homes, and spray paints their hair. But as the story progresses, the incidents become darker and darker until people start turning up dead. Director Meadows\u2019s film seeks out to be far from your normal tale about a man seeking vengeance.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>It\u2019s made crystal clear by the shocking second half that reveals a plot twist that sums up Richard\u2019s mentality. Richard is by no means a perfect man, and he\u2019s one who blames himself for his brother\u2019s death as much as he blames the group that tormented him. The relentlessly cruel methods in which the gangsters inflict pain on Richard\u2019s brother allows us to view this journey in Richard\u2019s mind set, and Richard\u2019s plans involve a lot more psychological torment than physical violence. There are some very memorable scenes staged, including one confrontation on the street with the gang\u2019s ring leader, and the finale.<\/p>\n

With the well done script, Meadows keeps his central character a complex human being seeking justification and atoning for his own personal sins. And gladly Meadows never turns him in to an action movie clich\u00e9. Considine is much too talented to be resorted to such gimmicks. \u201cDead Man\u2019s Shoes\u201d is an original, complex, and utterly gruesome revenge parable, and never portrays its characters as black and white. It\u2019s a criminally overlooked and ignored crime thriller, and one that should have skyrocketed Considine to leading man status.<\/p>\n