Dead Man's Shoes (2004)

Director: Shane Meadows
Writers: Paddy Considine, Shane Meadows, Paul Fraser
Stars: Paddy Considine, Gary Stretch and Toby Kebbell
Rating: 9/10

Dead Man’s Shoes is a gripping tale of a man who is lashing out to right the wrongs of others. In this tale Shane Meadows delivers yet another exceptional directorial piece of film. Meadows along with Paddy Considine (lead actor) write a compelling story that will leave the audience compassionately pulling for the anti-hero. It’s sad that a movie that was so critically acclaimed overseas got so little recognition here in the states.

Richard (Paddy Considine) is a paratrooper that is on leave from his service and decides to return to his hometown and clean up a few loose ends. He embarks on a crusade to exact his revenge on the hometown bully’s who ruthlessly picked on his younger mentally handicapped brother while he was away. Richard, one by one, targets each of his brother’s tormentors and quickly becomes a terrifying angel of vengeance.

Dead Man’s Shoes is not a movie that you can simply just watch and not feel some sort of attachment to the story. Almost everyone has either been a victim or has known someone that has been bullied in their life. This is the type of story that grabs you by the throat and forces you to relive those emotions while you feel justice for the tormented. A beautifully written story with top notch acting, Dead Man’s Shoes shines as a brilliant film with fistfuls of redeeming values all put together in one wonderful package.