Film Review: Colin Farrell Can’t Let Go in ‘Dead Man Down’

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CHICAGO – Nothing like a high concept crime story to compliment “spring forward.” Colin Farrell plays the revenge card to the nth degree in the unusual and slowly paced “Dead Man Down,” and takes Noomi Rapace (of the Swedish “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”) along for the ride.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

This is a crazy quilt of motivations, misdirections and negative circumstances, stirred together in a big pot of strange asides, watchdog symbolism and surprising casting. The is a glacially paced drama, told in scattered pieces, but it outpaces itself by delivering a different spin on gang and crime warfare. The engine of the whole situation, for example, is territorial acquisition of New York City real estate and the tragic series of events that this manipulation starts into motion. It is an absorbing story, not completely successful because of the pacing, but scoring points for allowing a peculiar narrative and a good screenplay to trump the usual gunplay (don’t worry, there is plenty of that too).

The film begins with a monologue. An organized crime henchman named Darcy (Dominic Cooper) is talking to his colleague Victor (Colin Farrell) about the joys and responsibilities of new parenthood – while he holds the newborn in his hands. This unique kickstart is followed by a mystery within the crime gang. The leader is a snake called Alphonse (Terrence Howard), who is perplexed by a series of strange notes (the first one clutched in the hands of a dead lieutenant), and wants his team to rally to solve the enigma.

All the while during these events, Victor is being watched by a woman named Beatrice (Noomi Rapace) from across their apartment balconies. She has witnessed her neighbor killing a man, and this motivates her energy toward revenge. She proposes to Victor to kill a drunk driver that had injured her face in a car accident, leading to taunts of “monster” by the neighborhood kids. She will turn him in for the murder she witnessed unless he cooperates. In this new alliance and promise to Beatrice, Victor begins to reveal exactly who he is and why he must kill so indiscriminately.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Dead Man Down”

Dead Man Walking: Darcy (Dominic Cooper) and Victor (Colin Farrell) in ‘Dead Man Down’ Photo credit: FilmDistrict

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Dead Man Down”