..."
So starts 'Dead Man's Shoes' , a film in which Richard, played by Paddy Considine, is seeking revenge on the drugs gang and it's leader, Sonny (played by ex-boxer, Gary Stretch) who abused his mentally challeged brother, Anthony (Toby Kebell) while Richard was away in the Army.
Sounds ... Read review
Harrowing thriller about a hotwired ex-soldier (co-scripter Paddy Considine fromCinderella ... more
Man) who returns to his sleepy Midlands hometown to dole out merciless revenge upon the booze and drug-sodden hoodlums who abused his mentally handicapped younge...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
The fourth feature from Shane Meadows (Twentyfourseven, A Room For Romeo Brass), one of ... more
the UK's most exciting directors, Dead Man's Shoes is a gritty yet fiercely moral tale of gangland retribution.Two brothers return to the hometown they left eight y...
Harrowing thriller about a hotwired ex-soldier (co-scripter Paddy Considine fromCinderella ... more
Man) who returns to his sleepy Midlands hometown to dole out merciless revenge upon the booze and drug-sodden hoodlums who abused his mentally handicapped younge...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Two brothers return to the home town they left years previously. Richard the elder is ... more
strong and purposeful. Anthony is the younger more hesitant keen to mimic the actions of the sibling he reveres. As the brothers set up camp in the hills overloo...
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The fourth feature from Shane Meadows (This Is England, A Room for Romeo Brass), one of ... more
the UK’s most exciting directors, Dead Man’s Shoes is a gritty yet fiercely moral tale of gangland retribution. Two brothers return to the hometown they left eight years earlier, to find it still run by the same gang of small-time drug dealers and petty thugs. Their purpose, it soon becomes clear, is not reunion, but revenge – a quest of particular significance for Richard (Paddy Considine – Hot Fuzz, The Bourne Ultimatum), the leader of the two, whose obsessive desire to even the score will lead them into dangerous territory. Evoking Get Carter in its avenging brother scenario and featuring an outstanding central performance from Considine (not to mention a cracking score featuring Bonnie Prince Billy and Aphex Twin), Dead Man’s Shoes is Meadows’ finest film to date.
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Advantages: Superb revenge drama with a human touch Disadvantages: It was overlooked at the cinema & probably will again on dvd
"God will forgive them. He will forgive them and allow them into heaven. I can't live with that."
So starts 'Dead Man's Shoes' , a film in which Richard, played by Paddy Considine, is seeking revenge on the drugs gang and it's leader, Sonny (played by ex-boxer, Gary Stretch) who abused his mentally challeged brother, Anthony (Toby Kebell) while Richard was away in the Army.
Sounds nothing original, and maybe ... ...to film in the rolling Derbyshire surroundings & with his ability to come out with gritty real English dialogue and accents & a real vision of how ordinary people live, it is a bit of a masterpiece.
Disgracefully over-looked at the cinema - no doubt due to Warp Films' new & therefore small status as film-makers & distributors- it only seemed to be shown in arthouse cinemas, despite glowing critical acclaim, and despite starring Considine, ... more
"God will forgive them. He will forgive them and allow them into heaven. I can't live with that."
So starts 'Dead Man's Shoes' , a film in which Richard, played by Paddy Considine, is seeking revenge on the drugs gang and it's leader, Sonny (played by ex-boxer, Gary Stretch) who abused his mentally challeged brother, Anthony (Toby Kebell) while Richard was away in the Army.
Sounds nothing original, and maybe in one paragraph it's not, but given to Shane Meadows to film in the rolling Derbyshire surroundings & with his ability to come out with gritty real English dialogue and accents & a real vision of how ordinary people live, it is a bit of a masterpiece.
Disgracefully over-looked at the cinema - no doubt due to Warp Films' new & therefore small status as film-makers & distributors- it only seemed to be shown in arthouse cinemas, despite glowing critical acclaim, and despite starring Considine, who also starred in Warp Films' first release, the Chris Morris directed 'My Wrongs' which won a BAFTA award for best short film. It would be a great shame if this movie was overlooked on dvd as well, but it probably will for the simple reason that it doesn't have money thrown at it and also because the UK mass audience doesn't tend to sit down to watch gritty films in this style.
But they will be missing a treat, and as much as I'm trying not to refer to it, I have to say it: fans of 'Get Carter' will love this.
Although we aren't told much about Richard, we know as soon as he appears in the film that his presence has impact. He first has a few choice words to say to minor dealer, Herbie, in a local cafe, and before too long, as each character comes & goes, the whisper is passed on: "It's Anthony's brother", which instils fear into each new person who hears it.
We are given lots of grainy black and white images to act as a flashback to Anthony and his experience with the gang, but nothing prepares us for the horror that is yet to come.
Stretch is superb as leader, Sonny. The rest of the gang are not really hard cases, but bored idiots who stick together, although we are shown what can happen once 'a bit of fun' spirals out of control under the guise of a truly vicious & heartless individual. And there's no denying that Sonny is a particularly nasty piece of work, and under his leadership, none of the gang are innocent, despite them saying otherwise.
But this is in no way a one-dimensional film in which we see pure good & pure evil played out against one another. There are some truly funny scenes with various members of Sonny's gang before revenge comes knocking on their door. One such scene is when two stoned members of the gang are relaxing in their flat reading porn mags, humouring themselves by reading out loud the 0800 number adverts. "What's 'alfresco?", says one, before adding "Is it 'in the anus' like?". Another great scene is when Herbie comes face to face to face with Richard, when he leaves the same guys' flat. Richard appears before him at the security doors wearing a gas mask & boiler suit. Herbie runs back to the flat, through the door screaming "He's like the Elephant Man!" and comes face to face with his mates' stoned out of their heads wearing African masks & banging saucepans, dancing.
It's also a very human film, and the relationship between Richard & Anthony is very beautiful. Although neither speak a great deal to one another, there's a great scene in which both are sat down back to back in old tractor tyres. Anthony is reminding Richard of the time he went to his old school & how he was great at running & football. "Everybody came up & held your hand", says Anthony. "Yeah", answers Richard. "I didn't though", says Anthony. The camera lingers on Richard's face as a moment of sorrow enters, before Anthony says with pride, "Because I didn't need to". Although very little is said, it's a very tender scene & displays the affection Richard has for his brother.
Richard takes on the gang, and despite being outnumbered about 7-1, his Army training has him at an advantage, being able to ghost in and out whenever he sees fit. Richard is not some great lummox who has to slash & smash to get what he wants. On the contrary, he is calculating & meticulous in what he does, and he is inventive with it, and very soon the gang realise that although they might be higher in number, they are trying to chase a shadow.
As Richard starts picking each member off, we are introduced to more of the background story of how Anthony's life was linked to the gang & how the abuse heightened, until the point where it went too far under Sonny's guiding hand & things inevitably come to a head.
Throughout the film, Meadows uses the landscape and scenery to pull us into what Richard left behind. Although at first glance the rolling meadows & countryside looks idyllic, it is peeled back to reveal that it simply serves as a place where boredom is allowed to thrive and allows very unremarkable people like Sonny to become king of all that stands before him.
One last word for the soundtrack. Although Warp are more known for being a record label, and that their main pull is electronic music, the soundtrack that is given to this film is superb & totally in tune with the environment. Although there are electronic moments, and even one or two moments of pumping hip hop (usally to tie in with the gang's ludicrous drugmobile that is a Citroen 2CV!), the vast majority of the soundtrack is lush alt.country performed by the likes of Calexico & M Ward, and it fits beautifully in with the scenes.
A splendid film, and both Considine & Meadows are rapidly becoming national treasures. Watch this film & you will see why.
On the dvd you gets deleted scenes, alternate ending, a documentary about the film, commentary by Meadows, a Danger ouse music video and graphic novel animated sequences, and a short film.
Advantages: Bleak, brutal and quite emotional Disadvantages: Ending was a bit of a letdown; not to everyone's tastes
Dead Man's Shoes is a pretty apt name for this bleak, brutal British revenge thriller. It's directed by relative newcomer Shane Meadows (whose previous films include 24/7 and Once Upon A Time In The Midlands) and it stars Paddy Considine, who has now become something of a Hollywood name, after appearing in Cinderella Man, and the upcoming Bourne Ultimatum.
It was nominated for best British film at the 2005 Baftas (losing out to Vera Drake) and won ... ...before, but I would imagine Dead Man's Shoes is a very good addition to either of these genres.
It works mainly because of the gripping central plot, its gritty realism, and the riveting lead performance from Paddy Considine. The story is extremely simple in essence, and at about the halfway point I thought I knew exactly where it was going. Luckily, the story becomes a bit stranger as it progresses (including one drug-fuelled scene that borders ...
l-m-n-o-p 15.10.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Dead Man's Shoes (DVD)
Advantages: Great acting performances. Good storyline. Disadvantages: Quite short for a feature length film.
...and directed a film called Dead Mans Shoes and if I liked This Is England I should watch it.
I bought in on DVD from play.com for £4.99 so it was pretty cheap, even if it was rubbish I couldn’t really lose. The front cover of the DVD had two quotes from magazines. “Dark, gritty, funny and chilling, and excruciatingly violent all at the same time” and “taxi driver meets first blood in the Midlands. Compelling. Brilliant. Genius”. Both quotes along ... ...be the same film.
Dead mans shoes is a story of revenge. Richard is an ex-soldier who returns to his home town in the midlands. He has a younger brother called Anthony. Anthony is mentally handicapped and starts hanging around with a group of lads, one is a drug dealer called sonny, played by an ex-boxer called Gary Stretch, the rest of the gang are all drug dealers as well but work for Sonny and are scared stiff of him.
Richard returns to take ...
manimal 15.03.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Dead Man's Shoes (DVD)
Advantages: Amazing, thought provoking film Disadvantages: Feel like you need a wash after watching
**MOVIE ONLY REVIEW**
I rented this out a year or so ago. I happened to catch a small piece of information about it on a culture show. I'd never heard of it, but it sounded interesting so I watched it. I'm glad I did - It's possibly the best British film of the new millenia.
I watched it again only the other day, having purchased it in the HMV summer sale for £4.49 (it's not there anymore, I've looked!)
The plot of this film sounds pretty pedestrian ... ...avenge his mentally disabled brother. Said brother having been taken advantage of by a local gang of petty criminals who have used him as a plaything. But as you watch the film you realise that it's much more ambitious than that.
The director. Shane Meadows, is now considered to be a major hope for British film-making. Prior to this movie he had written and directed a couple of other highly praised pieces (Twentyfourseven & A Room For Romeo Brass). ...
mongo_bongocat 12.07.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Dead Man's Shoes (DVD)
Advantages: Good movie with a clear message Disadvantages: Dissapointing finale
...good and bad things about Dead Man's Shoes the one thing I never knew was that it had this highly underused actor in it. Having seen the trailer on the movie 9 Songs I decided to make the purchase £4.99 was all it cost from Play.Com. Something has happened to Richard's brother Anthony, something so bad Richard and Anthony return to their old home town to get some sort of justice. Richard immediately becomes noticed by the local drug dealer who challenges ... ...thing that stands out about Dead Man's Shoes is the location; this remote village come town in Derbyshire is not the expected location for such a sinister under belly of drugs and gang violence. In the middle of the countryside Director Shane Meadows and his location crew have found a bleak and desolate looking estate of mainly pre fabricated council style properties. Second stick out point is the gang that so clearly run this town; they are all ...
sghawken 16.01.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Dead Man's Shoes (DVD)
Advantages: Gripping, thrilling, great ending Disadvantages: Some disturbing scenes
Dead Man's Shoes is an English film which was produced in 2004. It was directed by Shane Meadows who was also responsible for This is England, Northern Soul and Once Upon a Time in the Midlands. The film has a certificate of 18 and a running time of approximately 90 minutes.
The film stars - Paddy Considine - Richard
Gary Stretch - Sonny
Tony Kebbell - Anthony
Jo Hartley - Jo
Seamus O'Neill - Big Al
Stuart Wolfende - Herbie
Paul Sadot - Tuff
... ...- Gypsy John
Neil Bell - Soz
Craig Considine - Craig
Matt Considine - Matt
Andrew Shim - Elvis
No great stars that I recognised, although my memory is not that good! It does seem like it was a bit of a family affair with 3 members of the Considine family starring in the film!!
The story….
The main star in the film is Paddy Considine who plays Richard, is a soldier returning from service in the army. He returns to his home town, which is a ...
weaholt 09.10.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Dead Man's Shoes (DVD)
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Advantages: Nothing to criticise Disadvantages: As above
I'll do something a little different and do a detailed breakdown for 'DeadMansShoes'.
This is a film that I came across in early 2005. A friend had recommended it to me as they were well aware that I have a love of British films, particularly the independent ones. This seemed ideal to me really.
COST
I personally purchased this pretty much when it was released in early 2005. It cost me roughly a tenner I reckon but this is irrelevant!
It is currently available at £4.99 brand new on Play.com
LOWDOWN
The Director of this film is Shane Meadows, he is critically acclaimed for his low budget offerings like TwentyFourSeven and Room for Romeo Brass. His films generally focus on the midlands, as is the case for this low budget thrillier.
In terms of cast there is little to recognise with the exception of Paddy Considine, who ...
Advantages: A fantastically written and directed film, displays character depth and good story twists. Disadvantages: Never gain publicit
physical not verbal. The story line of his mentally challenged brother allows the viewer to sympathies with the killer even although at many times he can appear mad. We also feel partly for the victims, although they treated the brother badly, they are very much like the average man (driving in a 2CV and living dead end lives.) The script is perfect and the twist at the end is similar to other films but still is an excellent extra. The final act by Richard shows displays his depth in character; he simply does not get his revenge then go on to live a happy life. The film also gave rise to the actor Paddy Considine who played the part perfectly, after this he starred in 'Hot Fuzz' and will later be in 'The Bourne Ultimatum'. ...
Advantages: Everything Disadvantages: Not for the special effects fan
One of the greatest films I have ever seen. Directed by the fantastic Shane Meadows and starring one of Britains best actors Paddy Considine.
The film is set in Matlock in the Midlands and is shot in a way as to show the place beautiful but dead as there aren't many scenes with people in who aren't the main cast.
Paddy Considine is fantastic asolder brother Richard and very very believable, he is very scary in this film which shows his abilities as an actor as he is very mild mannered in real life. There is not much to be said about the story other than it is a story about 2 brothers and revenge as too much said could ruin the amazing twist at the end, so my only advice would be to just go out and buy it.
British films like this do not come up very often, it is a thriller with black comedy thrown in a few placves aswell. Very ...
Commentary With Shane Meadows And Paddy Considine And Producer Mark Herbert, Deleted Scenes And Extended Takes, Alternate Ending, In Shane Shoes Documentary, Danger Mouse Music Video, Graphic Novel Animated Sequences, Northern Soul Short Film, Hidden Extra Commentary Out Takes
Aspect Ratio
1.85 Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Professional reviews
Review
Raw, searing...completely gripping (Empire, )
Scary, vicious and violent (Mail On Sunday, )
Chilling...the best Brit film you've seen this year (Zoo, )
DVD Description
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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