I wrote recently about the slow burn. What I'm talking about
is a movie where the pieces are readily available to you to figure out what
exactly is going on. This doesn't mean these pieces are doled out in a
haphazard order but that they are given to you one at a time, letting the story
unfold rather than thrown at you in one big shove. Classic films were all about
the slow burn but lately it seems that the MTV generation can't stand taking
the time to hear a story out. They want it slam bam in your face right now! In
viewing movies that way they miss so much.
DEAD MAN DOWN is a slow burn film. It does offer plenty of
action eventually but the story is the important thing here. Colin Farrell
stars as Victor, a low level gang member who's on his way up in the world.
Victor works for Alphonse (Terence Howard), a high level suit and tie thug who
uses his gang to get property rather than the usual criminal endeavors. Someone
has been sending Alphonse clipped squares from a photo along with snippets of
sentences. This same person is seeking revenge against him but he has no clue
who or why.
When a member of Alphonse' gang is found in the basement
freezer of his home it delivers another message to him. Not only the clues this
time but the fact that the person sending them can get to him any time and
anywhere. Alphonse thinks he knows who is behind it and he and his gang face
down against a Jamaican crew that gives him a cut of their profits. Things go
wrong and a shootout begins during which Victor saves Alphonse' life thus
earning him more respect from his boss.
The story involves a secondary plot as well. Victor lives in
a high rise and across the way from his apartment lives Beatrice (Noomi
Rapace). Beatrice is an attractive woman with a problem: the left side of her
face is terribly scarred. She eventually approaches Victor in what seems like a
date until she tells him the truth. She watched from across the way as he
murdered the man recently found in Alphonse' freezer. She tells him she won't
go to the police if he will do her one favor: kill the man who scarred her. It
seems that the man was drunk when his car plowed into hers and did nothing more
than 3 months in jail. Now she wants revenge.
What we have are two separate cases of revenge here.
Victor's due to a tragedy he suffered because of Alphonse and Beatrice's from
the drunk driver. Victor agrees to help her but lets her know his problem comes
first. The two eventually help one another and begin to develop a bond that
goes beyond a simple business arrangement. And as that bond develops perhaps
the days where life is nothing more than existing to seek revenge might change
to a reason worth living.
Farrell has turned in some really good performances lately
(see SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS) but it doesn't appear that they are done in movies that
are extreme money makers. But that doesn't stop him from doing the best he can
which is quite good. Rapace is making a name for herself in English language
films and shows what a solid actress she is here. Both are extremely compelling
in their roles here, making you care about two people scarred, both inside and
out, that are just trying to find their place in life again.
As I said from the start, the clues meted out in this film
are offered slowly but at a steady pace making the movie both interesting and
well thought out. Don't go in expecting guns ablaze from start to finish but
rather a movie that will make you think and solve the puzzles left for one and
all to see. If you know this up front you'll have a movie that will entertain
from beginning to end.
Click here to order.
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