Dead Man’s Shoes (2004)
Picture: C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Film: C+
The idea
of the mentally ill being abused continues to be one of the most under-reported
and ugly phenomena around. When they are
outright retarded, they are even more defenseless and it is worse. I give co-writer/director Shane Meadows
credit for taking on a serious subject in Dead
Man’s Shoes (2004) when two brothers part ways and the younger retarded one
is abused to no end by the older’s gangster friends. Now he is back for revenge.
Instead
of an ugly, exploitive revenge film, we get an attempt at a character
study. Co-writer Paddy Constantine (Ron
Howard’s Cinderella Man) stars as
older brother Richard and Toby Kebbell is painfully good as the younger
brother. Besides the choppiness of the film
overall, the premise that Richard would be stupid enough to leave the brother
he loved with guys he knew were immature and rough is very hard to
believe. Even if it is or is not “based
on a true story” and that calm is not
made here, the film never suspends the initial disbelief of the premise and
that affects the film form the start.
The acting is not bad and it pulls off a good film with a limited
budget, but the subject matter is too serious for such broad strokes gone wrong
and that is why Dead Man’s Shoes is
an ambitious work that is worth a look.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is somewhat degraded to look urban and
the film opens with some film footage in a smaller frame format. It serves the narrative well, but even when
does with sincerity, the look is tired and even extends to too many United
Kingdom productions. The Dolby Digital
5.1 Stereo does not use surrounds to much of an extent except slight atmosphere
and dialogue, though the Aphex Twin music (see the Chris Cunningham DVD elsewhere on this site) is a plus and more
subtle than expected. Extras include a
deleted scene, alternate ending, making of featurette and audio commentary by
Meadows, Constantine and producer Mark Herbert.
- Nicholas Sheffo
