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.

The Killer Inside Me (2010)

Director: Michael Winterbottom
Writers: John Curran, Jim Thompson (novel)
Stars: Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson and Jessica Alba
Rating: 8.5/10



The Killer Inside Me is a Crime, Drama, Thriller that features some of America’s greatest young talents. Directed by Michael Winterbottom, this film definitely has some very dark undertones which are always present in his films. The Killer Inside Me is based on a novel of the same title, written by Jim Thompson. With all of these elements beautifully integrated together The Killer Inside Me comes together as one of the best movies released in the past few years.

Casey Affleck plays good ole’ boy Lou Ford, a West Texas deputy sheriff that is slowly unmasked as a psychotic killer. Ford conjures up a scheme to get revenge on a wealthy construction tycoon. When things start going wrong the bodies start to pile up. All signs point to Ford but he keeps his cool and has everyone guessing right up until the end.

The Killer Inside Me is a beautifully shot film with plenty of different elements to keep fans of all genres glued to the screen. Casey Affleck gives one of the best performances of his young career. Affleck has generally played the lovable comedic relief in movies, but The Killer Inside Me shows truly how diverse his acting spectrum is. The Killer Inside Me brings hope that there is still cinema out there that is watchable and doesn’t have some subliminal advertising message embedded throughout it.