Dead Man's Shoes (2004)

56% of critics liked it
(41 reviews)
82% of users liked it
(58,269 ratings)

Richard (Paddy Considine of In America) returns to the rural region of Derbyshire, where he grew up, after seven years in the military. His mentally challenged brother, Anthony (newcomer Toby Kebbell), tags along. Something awful has happened to Anthony, and Richard means to set things right.… More Richard (Paddy Considine of In America) returns to the rural region of Derbyshire, where he grew up, after seven years in the military. His mentally challenged brother, Anthony (newcomer Toby Kebbell), tags along. Something awful has happened to Anthony, and Richard means to set things right. Richard angrily confronts Herbie (Stuart Wolfenden), a small-time drug dealer, in the local pub, then creepily apologizes to him a few minutes later outside. Herbie runs to his mates and tells them what happened, but before they have a chance to respond, they find that they're targets. Richard starts out with relatively harmless pranks, vandalizing their houses and painting their faces while they're asleep. Sonny (former boxer Gary Stretch), the gang's bullying leader, confronts Richard on the street, but Richard refuses to back down. Sonny's ragtag crew are ill equipped to respond to Richard's ruthless military tactics. As Richard inexorably goes about his business, and the bodies begin to pile up, we learn, through flashbacks, what happened to Anthony. Dead Man's Shoes was directed by Shane Meadows (Once Upon a Time in the Midlands), who co-wrote the script with Considine. The film had its U.S. premiere at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 26 min.
Directed By: Shane Meadows
Written By: Shane Meadows
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Drama

In Theaters: May 12, 2006 Wide
On DVD: Sep 5, 2006
Studio: Magnolia

Critic Reviews

Derek Elley, Variety
Film plays as a quirky Brit riff on everything from U.S. slasher pics to revenge oaters but without Meadows' usual psychological complexity.
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post
In a swift 86 minutes, director Meadows and co-writer/star Considine give us a methodical, handsome, emotionally intelligent version of the revenge flick.
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
In the end, the picture's more pulp than juice.
Jessica Reaves, Chicago Tribune
There's a hint of Shakespeare's goriest tragedies here, sucked dry of any attendant heart, emotional depth or compelling human interest.
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger
A poor fit for anyone. And that includes even the undiscriminating gorehounds looking for yet another bloody slice of payback.
Lou Lumenick, New York Post
Meadows ... very slowly builds to a powerful climax for this arty cross between Straw Dogs and First Blood.
Felix Vasquez Jr., Film Threat
An original, complex, and utterly gruesome revenge parable...
Joseph Proimakis, Movies for the Masses
click for full review
Lewis Beale, Film Journal International
Isn't a mess, but it's sure no competition for Winchester 73, Once Upon a Time in the West or even Kill Bill, films in which payback really is a bitch.
Brian Gibson, Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)
Startlingly powerful, slightly loopy take on the revenge flick . . . offers a wry authenticity that the too-stylish, tough guys and gals in Tarantino's wanna-be-epics of retribution can't exude.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
The film is further proof that revenge, even when served as a cold dish as this is, ends up being far too chewy for a satisfying movie meal
, Sydney Morning Herald
What's intriguing is that Meadows makes us identify with these small-time hoods, even as he's setting up their executions.
Shawn Levy, Oregonian
Though Meadows makes a lot of it, he mucks it up before it's over.
Jeff Vice, Deseret News, Salt Lake City
The whole thing leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
, Bullz-Eye.com
Despite the fact that there is little left to the imagination, the movie is enthralling.
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
Atuações formidáveis (especialmente de Considine) em um filme moralmente ambíguo que, ao mesmo tempo em que funciona como maravilhosa releitura de Carter, o Vingador, analisa a natureza retroalimentadora da violência.
Ted Murphy, Murphy's Movie Reviews
What makes it intriguing and eminently watchable is Considine's deft almost low-key portrayal of what is essentially an avenging angel.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
For better or worse, this is a revenge saga that refuses to take sides.
Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Though the story is formulaic, the bleakly naturalistic performances give it an uncomfortable sting.
Timothy Knight, Reel.com
Unfortunately, the absence of emotionally engaging characters, combined with the cast's thick, unintelligible accents, undermines what could have been a taut and provocative exploration on the moral price of vengeance.

Read all 20 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Lady D

Gritty, emotionally powerful, raw and what British Films should be made of. With an almost frightening reality to it, none of the cast could be faulted. This was the film that introduced me to the collaboration of Shane Meadows and Paddy Considine and as a result I became a huge fan… More
Gritty, emotionally powerful, raw and what British Films should be made of. With an almost frightening reality to it, none of the cast could be faulted. This was the film that introduced me to the collaboration of Shane Meadows and Paddy Considine and as a result I became a huge fan of their individual works.. Still very much my favourite British film and proof that good film making doesn't have to have a big budget or high tech effects. Mind games, intimidation and revenge are the power behind this story. I've seen many non-Brits class this as a horror even a Slasher (which is a bit of an insult I feel), but it's too real and passionate to be that. Finally it's only when you look over this film time and time again you come to understand what a great role Toby Kebbell also played in this. Yes I never stop praising this fillm, it epitomizes everything that can be great from a low budget film and it's one hell of a revenge movie.
Unknown H

An amazingly heart felt and empowering slasher flick that puts the method back into the madness and for once, gives us a killer with a motive and small budget. No elaborate traps, haunting scenary or dramatic turns - just one man set to exact revenge on those who have harmed his own.… More
An amazingly heart felt and empowering slasher flick that puts the method back into the madness and for once, gives us a killer with a motive and small budget. No elaborate traps, haunting scenary or dramatic turns - just one man set to exact revenge on those who have harmed his own. Crushingly honest, brutal dialogue and some of the best acting I have ever seen come from this fair isle, this film is a very good one indeed. It leaves me wondering whether Hollywood should take a glance over to the UK to see how real pain can be on screen without the need of million of dollars or twisty turny plots - Dead Man's Shoes proves that all you need to make a film great is people that are good at their jobs - cast, crew and audience. Amazing.
Lorenzo v

"God will forgive them. He'll forgive them and allow them into Heaven. I can't live with that." A disaffected soldier (Considine) returns to his hometown to get even with the thugs who brutalized his mentally challenged brother (Kebbell) years… More
"God will forgive them. He'll forgive them and allow them into Heaven. I can't live with that." A disaffected soldier (Considine) returns to his hometown to get even with the thugs who brutalized his mentally challenged brother (Kebbell) years ago. <center>REVIEW</center> The simple oft-trod tale of revenge for a right undone - in this case an English ex-soldier's return to his northern country hamlet for some bloody justice for the crimes committed against his slow-minded younger brother by a local drug- dealing hooligan and his cronies, while away on duty - is a cinematic chestnut offering many devices for the filmmaker to employ, namely the flashback narrative (here done in grainy B&W 8mm home-movie style adding to the gritty verisimilitude permeating the pulp noir at hand) and the anti-hero protagonist (Considine giving an implosively blistering performance of furious retribution), Richard, "Anthony's brother" - as he is constantly referred to in trembly depositions by each member of the doomed thugs as if whispering a ghost's name - begins his five day (attributed by the title cards employed) spree of justice. The brutality and vulgar cruelty - bested upon Anthony (a very good turn by Kebbell making for very empathetic/sympathetic victim needing to be vanquished) whose only crime was not knowing the common sense in seeing just how ugly his new 'friends' could be (again told in a certain amount of restraint in the scratchy black and white sequences, jarring as they are) - indeed are in need for swift retribution and when we first see Richard, a slight, malnourished pasty-white, scratchily bearded, porcupiney scalp of Considine's character we assume he is just one of the unassuming, local blokes of the pub/ pool hall that one of the goons is dealing drugs in. When he is accosted by the dealer he lets out a vitriolic outburst that scorches the skin and chills the spine for the sudden explosive invective that only signals a death-head's warrant of what carnage is about to come. With his bristly beard suggesting a burr patch and his dark brown eyes gone dead-cold with hollow contempt Considine echoes Robert De Niro's walking dead Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver", not so much physically but in demeanor. A husk of a man who served his country only to return to a junk pile residue that was once his home and a desperate need to do some monstrous things in unspeakable ways to those who have unsettled his natural habitat. His Richard, however, has a soul and it aches you to its core when on display in a heartbreaking twist sequence I will not divulge here but it hits you in the solar plexus. Filmmaker Shane Meadows has a keen eye for detail and how to set an appropriate tone of absolute dread (nods to ace work done by composer Aphex Twin (AKA Richard James), Danny Cohen's cinematography and the editing team of Celia Haining, Lucas Roche and Chris Wyatt all make for moments of absolute dread and unease); a compliment indeed. While Meadows and Considine - friends in real life as well - smartly show only moments of graphic violence it is with the underlying theme of a good man gone monster is what underscores the visceral ice-numbing moments of fear and smartly not getting into a slasher type of exploitation horror film despite Richard's cheeky decision to wear an unsettling gas-mask suggesting the love child of Darth Vader and The Elephant Man.
Melvin W

I couldn't get into Dead Man's Shoes. I hated the way it was presented. It felt to me as if a group of inexperienced friends got together and decided to make a movie. The only thing I can say that is positive about the movie is that Tony Kebbell isn't horrible. Other… More
I couldn't get into Dead Man's Shoes. I hated the way it was presented. It felt to me as if a group of inexperienced friends got together and decided to make a movie. The only thing I can say that is positive about the movie is that Tony Kebbell isn't horrible. Other than that, everything else is.
Sophie B

Although this film has a good cast who do good performances this film just doesn't sit right with me. I didn't like the violence and it was just difficult to watch. A slow death.
Stuart B

An amazing film. If you have not seen it, get it. I love revenge style movies and this is one of the most realistic ones. Guy returns home from the army to make the people who bullied his handicapped brother pay. Well written, perfectly cast and harrowing. Can't believe I had… More
An amazing film. If you have not seen it, get it. I love revenge style movies and this is one of the most realistic ones. Guy returns home from the army to make the people who bullied his handicapped brother pay. Well written, perfectly cast and harrowing. Can't believe I had missed it until now.
xGary X

This bleak tale of revenge set in a small English town sees Paddy Considine leaving the army and returning home to extract brutal revenge on a group of small time drug dealers who abused his retarded younger brother while he was away. This is an unusual revenge thriller as it often… More
This bleak tale of revenge set in a small English town sees Paddy Considine leaving the army and returning home to extract brutal revenge on a group of small time drug dealers who abused his retarded younger brother while he was away. This is an unusual revenge thriller as it often looks more like a slasher flick; Considine is obviously an unstable murderer who has been trained to kill and he systematically executes each of his victims in a very horror film style way. Except in this case his victims are a bunch of unsympathetic scum bags who you can't help feeling probably deserve their fate. In this way the film throws up many mixed emotions as you're never quite sure who you are supposed to be rooting for! But the real kick in the gut is provided by Shane Meadows; he directs very much like a documentary photographer cataloging the grim reality of working class small town life. The actors involved are ugly. They have bad hair and cheap clothes. In other words they look like REAL people, not Hollywood's glamorized, sanitized version of them. As such you feel you are right there in the thick of it, actually witnessing these gruesome events rather than just watching a piece of entertainment. It won't be to everyone's tastes as it's quite a tough movie to sit through because of its extremely grim subject matter, but the extremely powerful final scene makes it more than worth it.
Cassandra M

Well, you can probably tell from the summary that I thought this was a really good film. To be frank, from the first few minutes I felt that knot in my stomach that comes from deep apprehension and anxiety; I was being manipulated from the off, and it just got more and more intense.… More
Well, you can probably tell from the summary that I thought this was a really good film. To be frank, from the first few minutes I felt that knot in my stomach that comes from deep apprehension and anxiety; I was being manipulated from the off, and it just got more and more intense. The film is a straight revenge story - a man goes back to a small town in the north of England to take revenge on a group of people who abused and tortured his mentally-retarded brother. Richard has been in the army for several years and is trained as a mercenary, but he plays mind games as much as he resorts to violence. In fact, I had to ask my friend if this qualified as a slasher film (which is how you will probably see it advertised) and we didn't think that the term does it justice. The script is superb, and reminded me of Almadovar in that it squeezes an incredible amount of detail about the characters without any clumsy exposition. For example, to gauge the relationship between Richard (an astonishing portrayal by Paddy Considine) and his handicapped brother Anthony (played by Toby Kebbel with skill and sensitivity, and not a little sensuality) pay close attention to the conversation where they talk about a childhood football match. So much said about their characters, their relationship and the situation, in so few words. A film as violent, aggressive and discomforting as this has no right to be as funny is it is, but it gets away with it. The gang upon whom Richard takes revenge are at times touching, farcical, disgusting, pitiable but ultimately human. The worst of humanity laid bare, making you want to retch and laugh at the same time. I am not going to spoil this film by going into the little twists and turns, the less you know about the plot the better. Although many of my reasons for being so impressed with this movie are personal, I think that the script, acting, cinematography, direction, editing and soundtrack are all brilliant. This film is on a limited cinema release, but search it out; it will take you on a hell of a journey. "God will forgive them and let them into heaven, I can't let that happen"
Dean !

A powerful, quirky revenge film. Low budget, plain simple plot but the realism due to the low budget makes it more hard hitting. Great performances and dialogue, this is a film you will not forget!
♥˩ƳИИ &

Cast: Paddy Considine, Gary Stretch, Toby Kebbell, Paul Sadot, John Hartley, Seamus O'Neill, Paul Hurstfield, Emily Aston, George Newton Director: Shane Meadows Summary: Richard (Paddy Considine) comes home from the army bent on revenge against the local gang of dealers and… More
Cast: Paddy Considine, Gary Stretch, Toby Kebbell, Paul Sadot, John Hartley, Seamus O'Neill, Paul Hurstfield, Emily Aston, George Newton Director: Shane Meadows Summary: Richard (Paddy Considine) comes home from the army bent on revenge against the local gang of dealers and thugs that brutalized his mentally disabled brother, Anthony (Toby Kebbell). Richard's one-man guerrilla campaign terrorizes the bullies, who begin to turn on one another as he efficiently eliminates them one by one. My Thoughts: "A well made low budget British film. But before going any further with this I must say this film had the most ridiculous looking small car I have ever seen in a film. Now that I said that, I like Paddy Considine in these more aggressive roles. He plays these parts well. It's a sad but revengeful tale. The things they do to his brother are quite unforgivable. The events taken place with the petty drug dealers and Richards younger brother is told in flashbacks. It was uncomfortable watching them make fun and torment him. The ending was a surprise. I didn't see it playing out that way. I liked the surprise of it. I know there are a lot of revenge movie's out there, but this one has a lot of compassion in it. You feel immensely sad for the younger brother, and by the ending you also feel the same for Richard."
Antony S

Soooo quotable! Truly excellent, features superb work from the Padster. Saw this one glorious night at my local arthouse cinema; had several walkouts due to the violence/swearing, but sod 'em. Wath this for a perfect marriage of top comedy and brutal revenge. Golden newie.
Saskia D

Paddy Considine as Richard is scary as hell. Totally believable without being over the top. I watched the story unravel with a knot in my stomach, because you know that something bad has happened to Richard's brother Anthony, you just don't know what. I've always had a… More
Paddy Considine as Richard is scary as hell. Totally believable without being over the top. I watched the story unravel with a knot in my stomach, because you know that something bad has happened to Richard's brother Anthony, you just don't know what. I've always had a weakness for stories about siblings, and this one is very powerful.
Anthony L

The best British film in years and probably in my top 20 favourite of all time! "What you looking at"......."You ya CUNT"!
Tim S

Holy Shit! Talking about lucking out. Watched this on cable (Sundance SOMETIMES shows good movies) and it was great. A hard boiled, violent, and well acted revenge tale. All hail fucking Paddy Considine. This guy is genius. I loved him in In America, but this performance is why I want… More
Holy Shit! Talking about lucking out. Watched this on cable (Sundance SOMETIMES shows good movies) and it was great. A hard boiled, violent, and well acted revenge tale. All hail fucking Paddy Considine. This guy is genius. I loved him in In America, but this performance is why I want to see everything that he has ever been in (and he was cool enough to be in Hot Fuzz). I also like Shane Meadows and I would like to check out more of his films, too. It's cool to see a flick like this that gives you hope that good shit is still getting made.
Arash X

Despite its flaws I liked it, cause it's not a typical revenge movie and has some unique moments
Stella D

one helluva revenge flick. paddy considine gives a career making performance
Craig S

Directed by: Shane Meadows. Starring: Paddy Considine, Gary Stretch, Toby Kebbell, Stuart Wolfenden, Neil Bell. I have very mixed opinions about this film and I can't decide on whether or not I really… More
Directed by: Shane Meadows. Starring: Paddy Considine, Gary Stretch, Toby Kebbell, Stuart Wolfenden, Neil Bell. I have very mixed opinions about this film and I can't decide on whether or not I really enjoyed it.... The film has too many moments where, as soon as a scene, to my surprise, shows great intensity (the first look at the "Elephant Man") and emotion but then is closely followed by scenes that just seem to strip that effect away from you. Also, I know it is a low budget film, but when it comes to doing gore in one, you really need to come up with something on your limited budget to make the gore really stand out and please the gorehounds (Peter Jackson's early days of 'Braindead' is one example), now aside from the first death scene, the rest that followed were very unsatisfying and just didn't leave me saying "Wow, they did really well with that". But I was pleased that it still was disturbing in its themes, but I just really noticed the flaws with the gore. But away from the bad things, the highlight of the film for me was Paddy Considine and Toby Kebbell. Paddy delivers one hell of a performance here and shows great range from being very sweet, calm and caring for his brother to.....well.....fucking intense and scary. Toby fits well into this innocent role and along with the director, creates some gripping emotion in scenes that show how Toby's character was treated. But I think if that twist near the end of the film, the one that came as one hell of surprise wasn't included in this film, I think I would have hated it. To sum it up, I was amazed by Paddy and Toby's performances, the director did show some great intensity and emotion in SOME scenes, which shows he has potential but didn't quite create that edge it needed and I was disappointed with most of the gore and off key scenes that followed great ones. Mixed opinions here.
Ken S

A Haunting Film. A tale of revenge, pain, and loss. See this film.
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]In "Dead Man's Shoes", Richard(Paddy Considine) returns home after a few years in the army to avenge the assault and humiliation of his simple-minded brother, Anthony(Toby Kebbell), at the hands of a group of local criminals who saw in him an easy… More
[font=Century Gothic]In "Dead Man's Shoes", Richard(Paddy Considine) returns home after a few years in the army to avenge the assault and humiliation of his simple-minded brother, Anthony(Toby Kebbell), at the hands of a group of local criminals who saw in him an easy target. In their minds, it was all good fun; when actually it was seriously wrong to treat another human being like the way they did. Richard introduces his intentions to them in the same way by being playful at first before becoming much more serious in his attacks. Through his actions, he becomes a bigger, badder bully than his victims ever were.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]"Dead Man's Shoes" is a low-key, off-beat revenge movie with a strong central performance from Paddy Considine. But regretfully it ruins it by not playing fair with the audience which is totally unnecessary.[/font]
William G

Considine sells the shit out of a familiar revenge story.