Dead Man Down
I'm recommending the film, because everything outside of those final minutes is very good. The film is the Hollywood debut of director Niels Arden Oplev, the Danish filmmaker behind the original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Fortunately, this doesn't feel like an overly-Hollywood production. The tone of the film is very dark and unapologetic, and the pace is leisurely, but never dull. It trusts our intelligence enough that it doesn't feel that it has to spell out its plot in a simplistic manner. While the story is certainly nothing complicated, it is told in such a way that we do sort of feel cast adrift for the first 20 minutes or so, not really sure where things are going. Those who are patient enough to stick with it, however, will find a quiet and rewarding noir thriller.
The movie stars Colin Farrell as Victor, a hired goon for a New York thug named Alphonse (Terrence Howard). For the past three months, Alphonse has been receiving cryptic and threatening messages, as well as what appears to be a family photo with the central figure cut out. Now, one of his men has wound up dead, strangled, and placed in his freezer. Alphonse suspects that someone within his own gang is behind it all, but he can't figure out who. We quickly learn that Victor's loyalties to his boss are not what they seem. It seems that years ago, Alphonse put a hit out on Victor's family when they refused to leave an apartment building that he wanted for his gang activities. Victor was left for dead, but survived. Now swearing vengeance for the wife and daughter he lost, Victor changed his appearance and identity, got close to his enemy, earned his trust, and is now slowly destroying Alphonse' criminal empire from the inside.
There is a woman who lives in the apartment building across from Victor. She is Beatrice (Noomi Rapace), and like Victor, she is seeking vengeance for a past grief. Up until one year ago, Beatrice was a happy and carefree young woman, working as a beautician. But then, her car was struck by a drunk driver, and Beatrice's face was damaged beyond recognition in the accident. She has had reconstructive surgery done on her face, but the scars still show, and she knows that she will never be the same. The man who struck her car that night got a light sentence, and only had to serve three weeks in jail. This is something she cannot stand, let alone comprehend. She sometimes follows the man to his home, and watches him, contemplating her own vengeance.
Victor and Beatrice are brought together in what might have been a "Meet Cute" in an entirely different movie. They know each other by watching each other through their windows from time to time. They seem attracted to each other, but are both too nervous to make a move. Finally, they get the nerve to talk to one another, and go on a date. However, after dinner, Beatrice drives Victor to the home of the man who struck her car. She then pulls out a video phone, and shows Victor a video she shot of him murdering one of Alphonse's goons in his own apartment. She filmed it from her own window, and now plans to use Victor to get what she wants. Beatrice knows that he is a killer, and wants his help in murdering the man whom she feels destroyed her life. The complex plot unwinds from there, combining the individual revenge plots of these two wounded souls who have found solace in each other, as well as the guarded romance that slowly builds between them.
Dead Man Down does a great job of bringing us into the lonely worlds of these two people. Both live entirely in the past, and almost like hermits. Victor routinely tortures himself by watching old home movies of his wife and child, where on the film, he promises to protect his daughter from "monsters" that might harm her. As for Beatrice, she locks herself in her room with articles and newspaper clippings about the accident. Whenever she does try to step outside, she is usually harassed by some of the local kids, who have been bullying her about her appearance since she came home from the hospital. The film is an odd mixture of revenge crime drama, and shy romance, but it does manage to work, thanks in no small part to the two effective leads.
This is probably Colin Farrell's best performance in quite a while. As an actor, he's been throwing his talent away lately in a lot of action films and forgettable remakes. But here, he gets to give a quiet and powerful performance. He gives a wonderful physical performance, showing the pent up rage that his character is holding in. He looks like someone who has control, but could also explode in violence at any second. He's also quite good in his more sympathetic scenes with Rapace. Speaking of her, this is probably her best role in a Hollywood film so far. Having obviously worked with the director before, she is most likely in her comfort zone here, so maybe that explains her more natural performance. It certainly also helps that the actors have guarded, yet genuine, chemistry during their scenes together.
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