DEAD MAN DOWN

Credits:
Director:  Niels Arden Oplev
Writer:  J.H. Wyman
Cast:  Colin Farrell, Noomi Rapace, Terrence Howard, Dominic Cooper
Studio:  Film District

DEAD MAN DOWN is a mystery thriller about Victor (Farrell), whose relentless pursuit of retribution  leads him to infiltrate a crime syndicate through a crew headed up by Alphonse (Howard), only to be sidetracked by his mysterious neighbor Beatrice (Rapace), who has a score of her own to settle.  The solid casting, coupled with the fact that Niels Arden Oplev is the Danish director who also brought us the original GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, put expectations for DEAD MAN DOWN up.  Unfortunately, if it ain't on the page, it ain't on the stage.  The mystery was so overt, the audience is ahead of the movie waiting for the characters to catch up, only to be blindsided with far-fetched twists and turns from the top of Act II through the end of the movie.  The film does have one redeeming quality in the love story between Victor and Beatrice.  However, because the writer chose to draw a parallel of revenge stories for both characters to relate, it literally feels like another movie every time Victor and Beatrice are together.  You are dropped head first into the mob world and then yanked out to Victor's personal life and anguish (which is great to give context to his character), but then you are dragged off into a whole new movie with Beatrice and her back-story.  

Bottom line and it pains me to say it because I am a huge fan of the auspices of this movie, but save your money on this one.  If you too are a fan of the talent involved, I would recommend putting this in your queue.  Otherwise, keep your fingers crossed that the next projects these guys make is better than this one.