Review - Dead Man Down

At The Theater - "Dead Man Down" - This dark and violent revenge thriller Directed by Niels Arden Oplev (the guy who brought us the original "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" film) and starring Colin Farrell, Noomi Rapace and Terrence Howard is absolutely plagued with ridiculous implausibilities- something I have precious little tolerance for given the serious, grounded tone. I'd chalk it up as one of the more frustratingly disappointing experiences I've had watching a theatrically released film in quite some time- so many positive elements in place only to be suffocated by a choppy narrative and a brain-dead script that shoots itself in the foot time and time again. It'll end up on my worst of 2013 list and comfortably so.

Colin Farrell (Seven Psychopaths) stars as second tier mobster's (Terrence Howard) right-hand henchman who, unbeknownst to his boss and fellow gang members, has infiltrated the syndicate in a complex scheme to exact revenge against those responsible for the death of his wife and child. Thinning the ranks of the bad guys while leaving behind little jigsaw pieces of a family photo would be the chief running gimmick amongst countless other components of our hero's plan (I don't see the point of listing them) that are so illogically contrived and inherently flawed that even the most gullible movie-goers will have a hard time buying into it's DTF (designed to fail) engineering. This might have been a great 30 minute short had it just gotten to the point instead of over-complicating itself with all the unnecessary malarkey...

Farrell once again shows fleeting glimpses of a substantial talent that the actor can't quite fully tap into for any considerable length of time- he's a capable actor that's rarely been able to exude a commanding presence in any of his more action/thriller oriented roles.  His "Victor" is a haunted sort and man of few words (or expressions) who's never really able to secure any kind of empathy.  The roundabout route to completing his ultimate task at hand only works to further alienate him from a discerning audience.  It's a forgettable role amongst a filmography of many (I believe there's only a precious few notable exceptions) for Colin Farrell.

Noomi Rapace (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo 2009) co-stars as the scarred beautician looking to exploit Victor's death-dealing prowess for her own vengeance-minded purposes only to predictably fall for the fractured kindred spirit- the Swedish actress is solid here though there's a few tonal shifts involving her character that throws the performance off balance. The relationship between the two is a bit strange, ham-fistedly forced and never believable.  Even with all of those light scars covering one side of her face, she's still sexy as hell, though.

Terrence Howard (Crash) is serviceably slick as the target of Victor's vengeance, while Dominic Cooper (Captain America: The First Avenger) puts in OK work as the criminal crew member charged with investigating the deaths of his cohorts.

French superstar Isabelle Huppert (Amour) makes a handful of painfully brief, scene-stealing appearances as Rapace's hearing impaired mother while F. Murray Abraham (Amadeus) is wasted as Farrell's wisdom-spewing confidant.  Armand Assante (I, The Jury) pops up in a disposable cameo as a token Godfather-esque crime lord.


Skip this pretentious, mirthless TURKEY (I can't recall one decent laugh) and check out any number of satisfying, level-headed revenge flicks like The Professional, Taken, Payback, Man On Fire, Haywire, Edge Of Darkness, Revenge, Kill Bill 1 & 2, The Limey, Rolling Thunder or The Brave One instead.

4.0 out of 10