Dead Man Running

I wasn't expecting great things from this movie and I wasn't disappointed. The plot is very two-dimensional but done reasonably well, the film is well-paced and directed competently with a fair bit going on in its 90-ish minute runtime. It's never going to trouble the Academy but it pretty much does what it says on the tin as a run-of-the-mill UK gangster flick.

The performances leave a little bit to be desired, however. Danny Dyer, who now seems hopelessly typecast, really phones in his performance and it would be nice to see him given a role which might stretch him. If he keeps taking roles like this one, though, it ain't going to happen. Here Dyer is reunited with his co-star from 'The Business' (ten times the film that 'Dead Man Running' is, by the way) Tamer Hassan. Hassan, again, means well but again he's given very little to work with. It's a shame as both he and Dyer have, I feel, more to offer than this formulaic 'good-guys-gone-a-little-bad' buddy-buddy nonsense.

The chief baddie is 'played' by Curtis 'fifty pence' Jackson and it's not good, people. I'm not a fan of his music but he undeniably has talent, just not on the boards. His performance is borderline embarrassing but thankfully he doesn't take up much screen time.

Not a great movie, not a disaster either. Just average.

I did chuckle when I saw the name of footballer Rio Ferdinand in the credits as an 'executive producer' and the Jar-Jar Binks lookalike even gets a dedicated (and very clunky) line in the script. Rio's got his insipid 'Number 5' online magazine going on and now fancies himself as a mover and shaker in the film world but someone really ought to take the big man to one side and quietly explain to him that he is not in any way 'cool', nor will he ever be. Stick to football, Rio, you're quite good at that (recent performances aside).

I recently viewed Lock, Stock, And Two Smoking Barrels, and thought it was a cinematic masterpiece. I watched Dead Man Running yesterday, when I saw that the two had a similar plot line. I wasn't expecting Dead Man Running to be as good of a movie as Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock, And Two Smoking Barrels, but I also wasn't expecting it to be almost as bad of a movie as Dave Eddy's Pocket Ninjas. The dialogue is rather lame, the twist is cliché and expected, and everything feels hand-me- down and second hand. Brenda Blethyn had a beautiful performance as Tammer Hassan's mother, which although was superb, didn't quite make up for 50 Cent's less than acceptable acting. Dead Man Running and Lock, Stock, And Two Smoking Barrels have the same situation with me as Corner Gas and Dan For Mayor. The Corner Gas/Dan For Mayor conundrum means that I enjoyed Corner Gas, but don't enjoy Dan For Mayor, although I want to. Lock, Stock, And Two Smoking Barrels is hands-down one of my all-time favourite movies, and Dead Man Running is hands-down one of my all-time least favourite movies. I really want to like Dead Man Running, but the dialogue, second-hand feeling, and clichés didn't do it for me. I give Dead Man Running a three of of ten.

I can just imagine the scene down the boozer. Danny Dyer and his pal Tamer Hassan are a bit bored and they think - "Hey, let's make another movie. It can be a cheap and cheerful film noir type thing and we can get our mates to join in"... "Great idea - I'll ask Ash, Phil D is probably around and I don't think Brenda is filming "Vera" just now so I'll drop her a text"... Next thing, and a few grand better off from a nearby beetle drive for the budget, off they go to make this. The story? Well, Tamer fancied being "Nick" who owes a loan shark £100k. Unless his debt is paid back pronto, his poor old ma (Brenda Blethyn) will get bumped off by the elderly, prone-to-napping, enforcer that is Phil Daniels. How, though? Well, he partners with best pal "Bing" (Dyer) and go a-fund raising. Can they find the cash and save his wheelchair bound mother? What do you think? Thing about this, though, is that it's not terrible. The acting is one-dimensional and the dialogue is straight out of the "Janet and John book of daft crime thrillers", but there is some humour and charisma to be enjoyed here and it does exactly what is says on the tin. If you set the bar pretty low and go with the flow then you will get pretty much what you expect from this predictable and decently paced ninety minutes of East London drama.

Lighter in tone than most British gangster type thrillers, there are some real giggles to be had in this.

Helps that the acting is a cut above too, and there seems to be real chemistry between the two leads Tamar Hussain and Danny Dyer.

There's a couple of plot holes, but nothing major.

It's also stylishly filmed and directed, and moves along at a fast pace, and gets a definite thumbs up from me.

The plot: Given 24 hours to pay off his massive debt, a reformed gangster descends back into the underworld he struggled to escape.

Dead Man Running isn't a bad film, but it's strictly by-the-numbers. It lacks the brutal realism of something like Refn's Pusher trilogy or Hodges' Get Carter, operating in a universe more like Guy Ritchie's, where the underworld is populated by idiosyncratic acquaintances, crime bosses with dangerous reputations, and oddball sidekicks. The biggest difference, however, is that this seems like something of a breezy overview of the genre, where each character is given a brief cameo, rather than any kind of reinterpretation. Nobody really has much to work with, but it does give the film a certain simplicity that many people found lacking in Get Carter and Revolver, which are often accused of having overly intricate plotting.

It's not an original movie, but it's enjoyable enough for what it is. If all you want is a simple, mildly violent crime thriller, then this will fit the bill nicely. If you're looking for something a bit deeper or original, I think you'd be better off skipping it. You'll just be bored or annoyed by all the clichés.