Pusher

The original version of Pusher from Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn was an excellent crime-thriller with a stand-out performance from Kim Bodnia. This British remake stars Richard Coyle in the central role. Its narrative is really very similar to the original. It means that if you know the original then there aren't really too many surprises here. Nevertheless, this is a remake put together with some energy and style. And Coyle is very good in the central role.

The story like before depicts the downfall of a pusher who loses a kilo of cocaine worth £55,000 when he is busted. Milo the Mediterranean gangster who supplied him with the gear demands his money back within two days. This leads to an escalation of violence.

Zlatko Buric reprises his role of Milo the crime boss, which he memorably played in the original. Once again he is a scene stealer throughout. Although it's basically Richard Coyle's movie, he is in more or less every scene, and he propels the narrative. It's a story that has a real inertia. It's fast paced and has real energy. It's helped hugely here by the soundtrack by Orbital. Even when these guys were in their heyday in the 90's their music always had a film score feel to it, so it's no surprise that their music here fits the film so well.

Director Luis Prieto holds everything together well and ensures that there is a stylish look to go along with the grit. Although, I wouldn't say that this is an improvement on the original. It's just too similar. But on its own terms it is a good, energetic crime-thriller with some great performances.

Review: Honestly, how much bad luck can one man have. He was definitely in the wrong profession! Anyway, I quite enjoyed this movie but the music was so annoying. All of the actors put in good performances, and the storyline was cleverly written to keep the audience in suspense. It does tend to go round and round in circles and it could have done with a bit more action, but for a British film, it was good to see something fresh without the same old faces. We have seen this storyline many times before, but the director showed us a the life of a drug dealer from a different point of view. I did expect more after watching the first half an hour, but its not a bad watch.

Round-Up: I haven't seen Richard Coyle in any other movies, but he brings a kind of intensity to the role as Frank, which worked well in the movie. Although his character has followed the bad path in life, you can't help but feeling sorry for him throughout the movie because of his bad luck. The main question that comes to mind whilst watching the movie is, Who Do You Trust, even though everyone seems to like Frank in one way or another. It also shows the dark underworld with drugs and violence which we have seen quite often in movies nowadays with the involvement of Eastern Europeans.

I recommend this movie to people who enjoy there British movies about drugs and violence and a man trying to pay of a debt. 4/10

In Pusher, we follow Frank, a low lever drug dealer/user in London for a week. Usually he deals small quantities in danceclubs or larger quantities to partying rich low lives. His girl, a stripper and escort but not prostitute, keeps the money for him. He also spikes the drugs and keeps the remainder in a storage space.

He's got two major deals going on. In the first his sidekick recommended him to some guy who wants to buy 1 kilo of drugs. Frank is reluctant, he doesn't know the guy, but he eventually accepts. He gets the kilo on credit from his dealer whom he already owes 3000 pounds. The second deal involves a girl who will bring him 1/2 kilo somehow in her body from Amsterdam.

The first deal goes wrong, the cops show up and Frank is forced to dump the drugs in a lake, so the cops have to release him. Now he has no drugs and no money, and owes his dealer even more. His dealer likes him and treats him alright, as long as things are going well. But when he can't deliver, things get progressively worse. Frank and one of the dealer's guys start collecting debts owed to Frank and things get violent. And this is also a warning to Frank about what will happen to him if he doesn't deliver.

Frank is counting on the second deal to go through, but it doesn't. The girl eventually shows up with 1/2 kilo of sugar. She was ripped off in Amsterdam. That gets Frank a good beating and a final deadline to obtain the ever increasing amount of money. Finally he sees the light and decides to escape the country with his girl, but he's got a couple of things to take care off.

I have not seen the original version of this. Pusher while marketed as some violent edgy movie, is rather a very good thriller/drama with a unique personality. Frank and his friends are a likable bunch and you don't want to see them in trouble. Since you care for him, the story itself is interesting and most of the other characters are also compelling, especially his friendly but dangerous dealer. Stories like these work only as long as the characters remain irrational and insist on staying in their little hell and refuse to see the obvious way out- get the hell out of town and take your business elsewhere. Acting, direction, editing and good all around. The music is also excellent, there's lots of electronic music when Frank goes to clubs.

PUSHER was a strong and vivid little Danish crime thriller, made by Nicolas Winding Refn back in 1996. It was the start of what has become a successful Hollywood career, and obviously at some point somebody had the grand of idea of shooting an English-language remake. Unfortunately, this remake is completely redundant for anybody who's seen the original. It's a scene-for-scene copy, one of those which I hate, and other than the different backdrops and actors everything plays out almost exactly the same. And, somewhat inevitably, it's an inferior product to the first film in every respect.

The cast just don't scream authenticity here as they did in the original film. Richard Coyle is a selfish, mean-spirited protagonist and I found myself actively wishing for his demise. Bronson Webb takes the Mads Mikkelsen role from the first film and is absolutely awful, going way over the top without any attempt at restraint. The only decent performance comes from Zlatko Buric, making a welcome turn from the Danish film and playing the same role.

Inevitably the sex, violence, and profanity are ramped up from the original movie, but the script feels lowbrow and director Luis Prieto is no Nicolas Winding Refn, that's for sure. His attempts at style, with the camera speeding around his protagonist while thumping music plays, just feel dated and very 1999. Not a good film at all.

I have to say this 'remake' was incredibly disappointing. well to say that i was expecting much is not quite accurate, in fact, i was expecting not very much. however, what i saw with this film was utter mediocrity by this director with poorly directed scenes which if properly produced would not have made the final cut. overall it's an amateur production of this cult film remake. around the halfway point it did in fact start to pick up its pace and there were some memorable scenes. overall though i have to say most scenes were unmemorable. the cliché British techno/house score did not help matters. a big plus was seeing the actor who portrays Milo in this film, as he starred in 2 of the original pusher films by refn. he actually made the film enjoyable to watch at times by his performance. ultimately, Refn had far less of a budget to make his pusher film compared to the budget Luis Prieto had to work with. So to create such a lackluster effort all around by Prieto and the crew is quite a disappointment. Refn had stated early on he did not want to interfere with this remake, though I think he should have considering it does reflect on him somewhat, albeit indirectly.

5.5/10