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Visitors Review

KineticSeoul 2012-05-24 13:03:55

"God will forgive them. He'll forgive them and allow them into Heaven. I can't live with that."

This is a very low budget film that I never even heard or read aboutuntil now. And with the title being "Dead Man's Shoes" I really didn'tknow what to expect from this movie. When the film started it was sortof difficult to understand what is going on since the British accent inthis is so very thick and it seemed like they were mumbling most of thetime. So I had to pay very close attention to everything that was goingon. I just didn't expect it to be a revenge flick. About a olderbrother who is back home from military service and wants revenge withthe people that brutalized his younger retarded brother. Basically heis a defender of the weak in this. I didn't find this movie to begripping from beginning to end, but it kept getting gripping as themovie progressed. This is a very underrated movie, but I can see whyit's underrated, the budget and the direction of it all just wouldn'treach the mainstream audiences which is a bit of a shame. On the brightside I personally think since the budge to this film was very low thusit got a high rating by reviewers. Like they might seem stupid if theydon't give this movie a very high score. The acting in this movie isn'tthe traditional acting, but very realistic acting like the whole castimprovised. Even if this doesn't really have a realistic plot ordirection in some parts of it or just doesn't make any sense. I wasgonna give this movie a below average score but the ending or twistmade it worthwhile and made the revenge even more worthwhile whileremembering those scenes. Not a completely original ending or twist butit's a good one and it works in this film. I also liked the rivetingmusic in this film.7.2/10

GeorgeEdwardMaier 2012-05-23 18:01:56

Come on people...

I am acutely aware that by writing a negative based review about thisfilm I am going against 99.999% of the reviewers... But I feel itsimply must be done. Let's just jump straight into why I disliked this film: 1) The plot isastonishingly boring. A guy kills some guys for killing his brother,then himself. The end. 2) Too minimalist for my tastes... Shane usesabout 5 locations in the entire film, all have the exact same feel andthus there is no real contrast in location. 3) The camera angles arebasic. There is no true experimentation here, thus adding to thedullness. 4) Shots are often held far too long while nothing happens(or something that is so predictable and everyday that the audiencesimply don't care), giving the viewer time to disconnect from the storyas they check their phone for new messages. 5) Shots are usedthroughout that add nothing to the development of the characters orplot. 7) Set design was simply primary school in several places. Anexample is one of the houses where they take drugs... EVERYTHING in theroom has a picture of cannabis on it... EVERYTHING. Curtains = cannabispattern, wall paper = cannabis pattern... I could go on but I'm sureyou get the idea. 8) The ending was anti-climatic, predictable and alet down. 9) The opening title sequence left my local cinema half emptyby the time the film had even begun. It's very similar to the one hecreated for This Is England in that it is equally boring, dull and addsnothing useful. Further to that it feels like it goes on for ever. Having called this film boring I'd like you all to know that I am noteasily bored by films. In fact one of my top films is one that seems tobore most of my friends: the Lord of the Rings. To date I have watched Dead Man's Shoes four times, and I can safelysay I like it less with each viewing.

JACKY ELLIS 2012-05-18 05:15:53

my no. 2 favourite film of all time

i sat on my own one fateful night and stared at the t.v. as it wanged on and on. 'dead mans' shoes' premiered said evening and pretty much immediately found myself transfixed, hooked, spellbound. wot a *****ing great film, a classic. i sat and watched the film, feeling more awake than i possibly ever had, and laughed, cried and stared, my mouth hanging open. this film is a challenge! all acting is the dogs, particularly the main guy - paddy considine. blew me away. please watch

CineCritic2517 2012-05-17 17:07:57

8.1 or a 1.8?

Please don't be hoodwinked by the reviews on this website or themis-typed 8.1 this attempted movie somehow presents itself with on thiswebsite.This is one of those cheapy, independent British B-movies that demandsa lot of sympathy from the viewer for the lack of budget and lack oftalent involved. The direction is a mess and the camera-work sloppy anduninspired. Cartoons like the Simpsons or Southpark have betterproduction values. The actors seemed to have been rounded up in a localbar and their lines are muddled with annoying local accents and insipidprofanities to hide the fact that they didn't have enough money to payfor a decent scriptwriter. Most of the dialog I heared, reeked ofimprovisation which made the actors constantly stumble over eachother's lines. What a mess...Storywise, it is all been-there-done-that. A simple revengeflick whichbrought absolutely nothing new to the screen. No back-story besidessome awkward amateurish flashback-scenes with some cheap grainy filterapplied that made it try to look like it took place in the 50s (onlyGod knows why) while in stead it was just a couple of years earlier.Also, the way the story is presented is just too linear leaving younumb as one by one the bad guys 'get what they deserve'.An 8.1?...seriously, what a joke!

Drunken666 2012-05-17 15:23:17

Best British Film In Years

Shane Meadows has taken a well-worn theme of revenge, tragedy andultimately redemption and in doing so, has created arguably one of thefinest British films of the past ten years. Paddy Considine gives atruly world-class performance, and Toby Kemell shines as his brother.The naturalistic setting and semi-improvised dialogue augments thebrutally honest violence, giving this kitchen-sink-stalker-revengeflick a thoroughly British identity. With a soundtrack includingalt-country balladeer Bonnie Prince Billy and lo-fi stars Smog, itgives the whole film an air of aching sadness, that is only fullyrealised at the films conclusion. Rarely can a film pump you so full ofadrenaline whilst tugging heavily at the heartstrings, yet DMS deliverson every level. The heartbreaking twist at the films climax elevatesthis film above the bad-language-and-bloodshed narrative the first hourof the movie alludes to. For me, a flawless film, and one that stayswith you long after the final credits.

jp3fn 2012-05-17 01:13:32

8.1... This movie deserves a 5.1 at best!

I rented this movie based on the IMDb 8.1 rating, and it's the firsttime IMDb let me down... BIG TIME! This is such a boring movie! Iwatched the first 20 minutes... and nothing happened just a lot oftalking with English accents, which is fine, but the plot does NOT moveforward action...I fast forward through to the end, and as far I can tell, the plot isretarded... retard brother let people take advantage of him...psychotic brother returns from war or something, and threatens thepeople took advantage of brother for 68 mins... and then eventuallygets revenge 78 mins... Nothing eventful. Nothing worth repeating...Boring.I'd rather watch a good episode of the Sopranos... Oh well, I onlywasted 25 minutes and a rental...But IMDb, come on a 8.1!!! How can let me down with a 8.1 rating... Iunderstand if the movie was a 7.1, I'd be taking my chances but a 8.1,come on that's means something... It may not :(

the_words 2012-05-15 14:36:20

Mediocre

Hate to say it, but if this wasn't an indie movie, it wouldn't havegotten a current average score of 7.8 at IMDb. That's just ridiculous.For me it lost a lot on the last 1/3 of the film, where it failed tolive up to the promise set by the story until that point. It wasn'tbrilliant until then, but at least it was getting somewhere from whatat first seemed like meaningless violence. I'm not gonna give away anyspoilers, so I can't be too specific about my criticism of the contentbut I can say it uses some late 90s-early 00s clichés which areobviously very tiring at this point. Some of them were just a bad ideafrom the start. Also the music is pretty terrible. It's either just bador cheap.

mazocorp 2012-05-15 01:47:24

100% violence 200% vengeance

this film was'nt very well heard of where i live and maybe even hadthat old tag saying all northern British films are not imaginativeenough! hey" i sometimes even think that? but then a friend invited meto watch this masterpiece of gripping film!When Richard returns home after a few years in the army because hisretarded kid brother has found him self in a spot of bother "should wesay", he decides to take ultimate revenge on the "try hard" gangstershis brother has been knocking about with and shows that they've made avery big mistake and really isn't affaird to show make them know!...after the first 10 minutes i was affaird to leave my chair in case imissed something, after that the fun really starts and you begin toadmire Richards methods of 'dam right vengeance... and just to top itall off there's that good old fashioned violent British humor, the namespeaks for its self this film has a lot involved in it, dead mans shoebecame one of my favourite British films in an instant,go and see it the next chance you get, believe me it is a violent filmyeh, but its for a very wide audience who will appreciate it!I loved it!

adamtrentonguy 2012-05-12 19:38:51

the shoes

Dead's Man ShoesRevenge, let's go and get them. avenging his brother's death, heterrorizes the thugs and does to them what they did to his sibling. Youhave to sometimes! you have to make good of bad. This movie has plentyof bad. Shane Meadows does a good job in this movie putting Thugs andlike thugs they are always up to no good. The heavy drug and alcoholuse are only some of the ways in which this movie takes you into arealm of lawlessness and irresponsability. the one man story of revengemakes you proud to be on the honorable side, which in this case seemsto be the one that wins out at the end. a drunken tale of hanging out,in this movie you see a lot of it. let's see if anyone can stop fromgetting killed by Richard (Paddy Considine).

Snoog 2012-05-12 12:05:35

A Classic.

'Dead Man's Shoes' is the fourth full-length feature from Nottingham'sShane Meadows, who in my opinion is one of the best filmmakers inBritain (the world?) today. The film centres on Richard (Considine), aman who has just got out of the army and returned home with hismentally handicapped brother Anthony. Through a series of sketchyflashbacks, it becomes clear that Richard has returned to exact revengeagainst a band of drug dealing low lives that mistreat his brotherwhile he was away.During his first night back into town he toys with the gang by stealingtheir supply of drugs, spray painting their hair whilst they sleep andmost comically paints the leader (Gary Strech, who is excellent) up inclown makeup and draws a target on another guys coat with the words"NOB" underneath.But soon Richard dispenses with the fun and games and his realintentions become clear. As he says in the films memorable and chillingopening line…"God will forgive them. He'll forgive them and allow them into heaven…Ican't live with that." – Destined to become a classic line.For the first time since the excellent "A Room For Romeo Brass" Meadowsonce again teams up with old friend Paddy Considine, who puts in amesmerising and terrifying performance as Richard. Decked out in bellbottoms, his old combat jacket and a gruff beard, coupled with aconstant cold look in his eyes; you root for him but at the same timeyou're scared of him and how far he will go.During his first confrontation with Herbie, a member of the gang, hesimply sits and stares at him whilst he goes about plying pills to twomen playing pool. Before suddenly snapping, intimidating Herbie and theviewer.Herbie: Can I help you mate? Richard: (laid back) Sorry? Herbie: Whatthe f*ck are you looking at? Richard: (Suddenly vicious) You, Ya c**t!I can't say enough good things about Considine. After seeing "RomeoBrass" he became one of my favourite actors of all time, and with "DeadMan's Shoes" he's secured a position near the top of that list forever.Toby Kebbel, a relative newcomer, is also superb here. He puts in anamazingly believable performance as Anthony. He plays it just rightwithout going over the top, which is what some would of done, evenseasoned pros.The flashbacks that depict the abuse he suffered at the hands of thegang affected me greatly; how these people take advantage of a mentallyhandicapped person really does make you feel sick to your stomach.These emotion of these scenes are heightened even more by the use of ascratchy black and white effect, which Meadows said he used because itmakes the whole thing seem a bit more like real life, and was inspiredafter seeing an execution video on the internet that had that samequality.The soundtrack must get a mention also, comprising of a lot of WarpRecords artists (as the film was made with the assistance ofWarp-Films) such as Clayhill and Aphex Twin. Also included is awonderful track from Bonnie Prince Billy, which is in fact the onlysong he's ever approved for use in a movie. It's a fantastic collectionof music, and as Meadows mentions on the films commentary, it all worksso well together that it seems more like a score instead of acollection of different artists.On the whole, this is one of the best movies to come out of Britain insome time (probably since Romero Brass) and it's a pity that our filmindustry isn't known more for producing films of this style andcalibre, instead of being the place that brought you "Notting Hill" and"Bridget Jones".Snoog - http://sjcultmovies1.proboards23.com/

2012-05-10 20:27:15

more amazon in-house cluelessness

It's a telling indicator of the attention-and-comprehension levels of amazon in-house "reviewer/critics" that Paul Gaita, whose screed is published above, thinks a rural village in the British Midlands is... Irish. Dear oh dear. See this excellent piece of work by the superb Shane Meadows, who made the unforgettable 'This is England' and judge it for yourself. Do amazon 'critics' get paid for writing their drivel?

2012-05-10 04:57:43

Good film but I thought there were a few flaws

I love nothing better than a decent revenge film. Kill Bill Vol 1 is the finest one that I have seen. This one is set in the Derbyshire countryside and starts with Paddy Considine arriving at a disused farmhouse. It because apparent as the story unfolds that the Considine character has a retarded brother and he is hell bent on revenge for something that was done to his brother by a gang of drug dealers led by Gary Stretch. The film soon develops into a dark and disturbing bloody mission of revenge and we eventually learn the full details of the retarded brother and why his brother is so mad.The most glaring problem that I have with this film is the lack of law enforcement. How can you butcher so many people and get away with in with no intervention by the police ? I could say the same for another recent film by the same director Shane Meadows "This Is England". The film also has a very dark heart. It doesn't seem to believe in forgiveness.Overall I enjoyed the performances of the main characters but I thought the story was a bit too Tarantino-esque to justify any more than 3 stars.

2012-05-06 02:00:40

Hard to understand the accents but worth watching-DO NOT MISS

This review is from: Dead Man's Shoes (DVD) Agreed about much of the dialogue being unintelligible but still do NOT miss this film. This film proves the adage that a fantastic script can overcome almost any flubs in lower budget (or any budget) filmmaking. Enough is explained visually- believe me! I am very well schooled in regional British accents and this film should have offered subtitles in English. Gary Oldham's superb "Nil By Mouth" had this same issue as well. All Meadows has to do is reissue this with some subtitles and it will find a whole new audience. Also the dubbing of the soundtrack was odd and not done properly in a few places BUT THIS FILM IS STILL AMAZING. Very disturbing but also an important film about subcultures, poverty, bullying and modern disaffected, alienated Britain. This film has happened in real life and most likely as I write this. Society cannot ignore the drug sub culture and how it destroys communities any more.

kidtwist606 2012-05-05 18:49:27

This film is dark but wonderfully made and acted.

This was a really good film, i thought paddy considine was terrific andreally worked the role well.There was a a lot of heart in the story and it didn't sugar-coat theharshness. I don't generally like slasher films and I think people maybe freaked out by this as there is no 'cartoon' violence or humour inthose scenes to make it more palatable, as in said slasher type films.That's not to say there's no humour in the film, it's just that theareas for each are clearly defined..this is after all played straight.The point of the film would be diluted if the necessary force was letup just to save people's taste.OK, well...that's this rather poorly written review over. I would urgeyou see this film, a very good tale....very dark and bittersweet.Thanks

gavin6942 2012-04-28 17:43:47

Seriously Folks, This Film is Great, but Nothing Mind-Blowing

A mentally retarded man hangs out with a gang of drug dealers, whotreat him like a pet and beat him mercilessly, ridicule him and doother things of unsavory natures. When the man's brother returns fromthe military, he vows revenge on the gang members for what they've doneto his brother and he begins to pick them off one by one aftertormenting them with petty thefts from their apartment and applyingmakeup on them in their sleep.This film came to my attention because I am trying to watch 300 horrorfilms in the year 2007. I figured that a good way to get quality filmsfor my viewing pleasure would be to print off the top 50 horror filmsfrom the Internet Movie Database. This film made the list, which wasquite a shocker -- a film from 2004 I hadn't heard of was consideredone of the greatest horror films of all time? I couldn't understand it.After viewing the film, I'm still confused why so many people seem tolove it. Yes, it's a good film. The dialog is very nice and natural,with plenty of drug and sex references as you might expect from theunderbelly of society. The plot was solid, the acting very nice andthere was a style used where much of the story was told by showing oldhome movies of past events (some of which probably don't make senseuntil the second viewing). All of this was very nice.But one of the greatest films? I don't know. First of all, it shouldn'tbe categorized as horror at all. I really don't get it. Yes, people arestalked and killed -- one even gets chopped up into little pieces. Andthere's a scary scene or two with the "elephant". But it's more of amafia revenge film than anything, not horror. And even in othercategories, it's not that amazing.You want to see English people doing drugs? Rent "Trainspotting". Youwant to see an English guy getting revenge on a group of people for howthey treated a family member? "The Limey" is much better than this.Sure, this has some nice scenery and a good emotional undertone -- "TheLimey doesn't have as much emotion -- but it's nothing really new. ForEnglish people killing English people, get "Snatch" or "Lock, Stock andTwo Smoking Barrels"... not this.So, I enjoyed it. And I don't want to say it's not worth watching. Butit doesn't make my top 50 horror list, I'll say that. There's justnothing here that really sends it flying out of the ballpark. Oh well.Good movie, not great... vote this one off the top 50, please.

Galina 2012-04-28 05:02:46

And This is England, too

"And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furiousanger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers..." Dead Man's Shoes, a low budget independent revenge drama-thrillerEnglish style, was directed by Shane Meadows and written by Meadows andPaddy Considine. Considine also starred as Richard, a retired soldierback to his small home town in Derbyshire, North England. He returnedto teach a lesson to local small time thugs and drug dealers who hadabused and humiliated his younger mentally retarded brother (TobyKebbell in very sympathetic performance) while he was away on service.I received the film from Netflix few weeks ago and I kept putting itaside but finally watched it in one sitting without ever taking my eyesaway from the screen and I am very impressed and even shocked by itsraw emotions and truly powerful final 15 minutes. How often we wouldget involved with the story and the characters but later only becomedisappointed with the weak or illogical and not convincing ending. DeadMan's Shoes actually picks up its momentum at the 70th minute mark andit ends with the catharsis - or the closest to it from what I can thinkof. I also believe that I've witnessed one of the best performances byan actor in the last few years, and this is Paddy Considine as thearchetype of the older brother, filled with anger and guilt. For him,hanging on in quiet desperation was not the English way. The film isshort, is not an easy viewing by all means, it is not the film to relaxbut it brings intensity, real emotions, and very convincing acting.This is the second film directed by Shane Meadows that I saw. The firstwas This is England. Meadows knows well the places of his childhood andthe people he personally encountered and who stuck in his memory. InThis is England he recreated his own experience as a young 12 years oldlonely boy who one summer got involved with the group of Skinheads. Isee Dead Man's Shoes as the story of a brother whom he never had.

lawsielass 2012-04-27 08:00:41

Fantastic

What a great film from start to finish. Very true to life which bringsthe story even closer to home. Well worth a watch!!! Paddy is afantastic actor and the guy who plays his brother had obviously gotthat part down to the ground. I didn't even realise the actor playinghis brother wasn't mentally disabled in real life until we watched theextras on the DVD at the end.The Director has taken a lot of his experiences from his younger daysand turned them into this great film. I will definitely look to see ifhe has made any other films, if anyone knows of any please let me know. What more can I say, not a lot I don't want to spoil it for anyone elseout there who hasn't seen it yet.

2012-04-26 12:45:46

Don't be fooled

This review is from: Dead Man's Shoes (DVD) My rating has nothing to do with the film itself, since I've not seen it.Rather, it's for the fact that Amazon lists this as NTSC, when it is in fact, Region 2.I found that out the hard way when I got the disc from a seller yesterday.If you do not own a DVD player that allowes you to watch R-2's, don't get it.

jonic79 2012-04-22 18:11:30

A lot of directors can learn from Shane...

I have just watched the film at the Edinburgh film festival and thoughtit was absolutely brilliant. However, I do believe that it's one ofthose films you either love or loathe. Shane Meadows is a fantasticdirector who remembers toincorporate humour in a rather depressing storyline and for me, that'swhy the film is a success. I also had the chance to watch 4 of Shane'sshort film which he had directed with Paddy Considine being the onlyactor. They capture the funside of making movies and I think that's something a few director's andactors alike who are so stuck up their own a** should be inspired by.The problem with 'once upon a time in the midlands' was, as Shane hasexplained in the Q&A,that he didn't have final cut and also had to change the storyline tosuit the financiers. He doesn't like the result very much and Paddy,who was supposedto be playing the role (jimmy) Robert Carlyle but had put out after thechanges in the script, has said that Shane had wasted 18 months of hislife to do a piece of sh**. Anyway, to draw a conclusion, Dead Man'sShoes manages to tackle adisturbing and sad theme in a thoughtful but also balanced way, showingthathumour doesn't necessarily destroy a serious subject matter but onlymanagesto enhance it.

ian_morewood 2012-04-22 08:42:54

Turned it off

What a desperately poor effort this was. Slow plot, wooden acting, baddialogue, borrowed sets, poor sound and filming and worst of allterribly edited. It was a real struggle to watch more than the first half hour of thispittyfull film, was it not for the fact that it was filmed on mydoorstep I would have switched off way before I did.The concept should have been simple to execute, man wronged comes backyears later to take his revenge. But to make people care you have tobuild back stories or characters that the audience is going to carefor, we get none of that from this film.No humour, no suspense, no charisma from any of the main characters mymajor problem is that Film4 actually commissioned this film. 1/10