3 Stars: Perfect for fans of the Swedish Girl
with the Dragon Tattoo
Victor works for Alphonse , a dirty real estate dealer who isn’t above killing to scare low-renters or immigrants out of his properties.
But Victor isn’t your average thug —it turns out he has a vendetta against Alphonse and is working in secret to get retribution. Alphonse is responsible for the death of Victor’s wife and little girl years earlier and Victor will stop at nothing to make him pay. His grand hope is that this revenge killing will bring about the proverbial silence of the lambs. But something in him knows it isn’t that easy.
In a Hitchcockian twist, Victor’s seemingly beautiful neighbor Beatrice has been watching Victor through his window at night. He can see her, too, and waves occasionally. It isn’t until he meets her that he sees the terrible scars on one side of her face. Turns out, she has secrets of her own.
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When Beatrice accidentally sees Victor kill a man, she blackmails him into agreeing to kill the person who’s responsible for her terrible scars. It seems she wants to silence some lambs as well.
Farrell gives a fantastically understated, moving performance, getting great mileage from very sparse dialogue. He does well as the man broken on the inside.
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Rapace is equally compelling, squashing her sadness until she explodes with anger and hatred. A former beautician, Beatrice cannot reconcile the ugliness she sees in the mirror.
Bottom line: Dead Man Down is full of big talent and creates some truly intriguing characters. The multilayered story is often confusing however, and had this reviewer scratching her head more than once. But if you love dark, neo-noir film, you’ll love this movie.
The running time is 1 hour, 50 minutes.
Photo credit: FilmDistrict
Like Us: www.facebook.com/DeadManDownNiels Arden Oplev, the acclaimed director of the original The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, makes his American theatrical debut with a provocative new thriller, DEAD MAN DOWN. Colin Farrell and Noomi Repace star as two strangers, irresistibly drawn to each other, whose mutual desire for revenge unravels in an escalating trail of violence. The film co-stars Academy Award® nominee Terence Howard and Dominic Cooper, from a screenplay by J.H.Wyman .