Bloody and brilliant, "Dead Man's Shoes" is an emotional rollercoaster from beginning to end. The 57% rating on Rotten Tomatoes is both a crying shame and a sacrilege, because this is Shane Meadows' masterpiece -- a film that transcends the revenge genre, delivering a heart-pounding, intense story that lets events unfold in a way that is anything but simple.Richard (Paddy Considine) returns home from military service with no intention of living a nice quiet life and settling down. The target of his rage: a low-rent drug gang that did some terrible things to his borderline simple brother Anthony (Toby Kebbell) some time before.
After Richard threatens a drug dealer and later gives him an unsettlingly twitchy apology, the gang of thugs suspect that ol' Anthony's brother might be a few screws short of a tool box, but don't know how to react. Sonny (Gary Stretch), the most sadistic and smartest (and in a group like this, that's not saying much), takes charge as best as he is able, but they are no match for Richard's cool-headed brutality and military training.
