DEAD MAN DOWN - Revenge has many faces

The first thing I want to say about this film is that DON'T GO BY THE TRAILER, its misleading. But having said that, this is a decent effort from Niels Arden Oplev - the director of the swedish version of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. The story deals with the effect revenge can have on different individuals and what happens when two such persons are bought together.

Colin Farrell plays Victor, who appears a loyal lieutenant to Terrence Howard's crime kingpin, Alphonse, who of late has been under mysterious threat. Rapace plays a young woman who lives in an apartment directly across from Victor's. She's scarred, both physically and psychologically, by a recent auto mishap. Under the pretext of flirting, Rapace's Beatrice arranges to meet with Victor ... and then shows him phone video of Victor killing a man in his apartment.Beatrice tells Victor she'll keep his secret if he agrees to dispense with the drunken driver whose negligence marred her.

Colin Farrell acted his part well; after his cold, unpredictable start, we gradually learnt more of his character. Dominic Cooper, playing a fellow gang member, gave a standout performance, with real depth, to a believable character. The best of all though was the power-house performance of Naomi Rapace. Utterly believable and raw emotions. She is the real star of this film. Terrence Howard could have done better.

DEAD MAN DOWN is a good tale of revenge that could have been great with improvements in the story and a better conclusion.The gangsters are too dumb and never suspects of Victor.Noomi Rapace's character fails to evoke pity or sympathy from the audience. The ending could be a lot better.But, as I said before, its a decent effort by the director facing some bottlenecks in his first Hollywood venture.

WORTHY MENTIONS

The unique casting of Isabelle Huppert who provides some light moments in this dark movie.
Watch out for the transformation of Noomi Rapace during her first date from a shy girl to a vengeful soul all in a matter of minutes.

MY VERDICT

*** - Nice effort