Fifty Dead Men Walking (2009)

You won't be disappointed!

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I am unable to provide an accurate review of this film for one reason: NO SUBTITLES! How do you distribute this film on DVD and streaming without the one necessary tool needed to fully understand the dialogue. The accents are very thick and after 30 minutes, I decided to stop trying. If they are not going to provide subtitles, I'm not going to struggle through it. I need the subtitles because, at my age, I am slightly hard of hearing, so I always use close captioning / subtitles. Add the fact that it is difficult to pick up what the characters are saying and it's a waste of time. Too bad because it appears to be a good film!!

I've never written a review before and don't really feel very qualified to do so, but I felt so strongly about this film that I wanted to do more to recommend it than giving the star rating.Jim Sturgess turns in an incredibly moving and amazing performance as Martin, the young man who gets caught up with the IRA via his friends, only to be turned by "Fergus," played by Kingsley in a very different and understated role than we're used to seeing him.Martin is torn between the cause and his friends vs. the ever-growing violence against innocents. He becomes a father and ultimately decides to be a source for Fergus, infiltrating deep and high into the organization. We live through his angst, fright, joy, sorrow, regret, rage and pride as he evolves.Kingsley's portrayal of Fergus -- a hard and closed-off guy who comes to uncharacteristically care deeply about Martin -- is played brilliantly, with just the right low-key nuance in manner of speaking and facial expression that allow you to see his emotional wall crumbling a bit for Martin.But there are costs for Martin regardless which path he takes, just a grim and sad result of the fractious climate between the IRA and British soldiers/police.The storyline, the style of filming (sorry, I'm not adept with technical terms), the wonderful development of the Martin character (and to a lesser extent, Fergus), along with the incredible performance by Sturgess (I would go so far as to say even Oscar-worthy) really make this film memorable and worth your time.

MINOR SPOILER WARNINGSI watched this a couple of days ago. I didn't really expect much from it. The author Martin McGartland (a former RUC tout in the PIRA before going on the run) disowned the film since it deviated from the original story in a few ways. However, I was surprised as to how good it actually was. Ben Kingsley does well as the Special Branch officer and comes across as hardened but still carrying a grey morality with him.Jim Sturgess is plausible as a West Belfast Jack-the-lad come PIRA member/police informer and Northern Ireland actually feels like Northern Ireland in the late 1980s.Though its only fairly loosely based around McGartland's story, It is well shot and deals with the troubles in a gritty manner that pulls no punches. There is no flag waving or finger pointing, just the simple depiction of "how it was" and its really believable. The grey morality of what was a horrendous and destructive conflict it was and how each side were doing some extremely underhand things really shows on screen. This is how it is shown to the audience.Of course there are parts - such as one towards the end - which contains some willing suspension of disbelief but fortunately doesn't cause any serious damage and the relationship between McGartland and his girlfriend worked in the plot's context.Rose Magowan surprised me as well. While I was expecting the worst from her and was dreading a horrendous "Devil's Own" Brad Pitt accent, I was pleased to see that her grasp of the Ulster brogue was relatively good (okay not perfect but better than I expected). Her "femme fatal" character was fairly well written and was faintly threatening even if her hairstyle was a little bit on the clichéd side.This was a damn sight better than that festering turd called "The Devil's Own" and offers a full and unapologetic insight into the conflict while being a decent thriller.Of course the fact that the film is "loosely" based around McGartland's original story doesn't detract from the fact that as a film it's excellent.The finale is quite touching but I'll say no more than that.I highly recommend this film to anyone who wants to see a decent troubles based drama/thriller.

I don't care about the accuracy. It's closer than 90 percent of what we see out of Hollywood. Having said, kudos to Canadian director Kari Skogland on a terrifically entertaining film. Great performances by all actors. Ben Kingsley and Jim Sturgess were especially great. They obviously had good chemistry which played out on the screen. Jim Sturgess is a talented young actor. The soundtrack was exactly right, helping to create a sense that I had just had a glimpse into what their lives must've been like. I measure films based on how they made me feel. This one was a "Wow!"Look forward to seeing more from all!