Dead Man's Cards

At this year's Edinburgh Festival, this movie truly made my week. Having for days been dragged through venues awash with self-conscious student theatre, the unpretentious grit of this film put me back on track.

No navel-gazing drama here, but a wonderfully darkly lit wide-screen world, filled with recalcitrant doormen (Paul Barber and James McMartin), a deluded wanna-be cowboy bar owner (Tom Bell), a cuddly crackhead (Andrew Scofield), and an array of Scouser cameos, delivering some of the off-hand comedy that flickers up here and there.

No message-laden, finger-wagging narrative either – instead we're dealt a strangely suspended, grimy, but somehow life-affirming status quo. One or two of the film's fight scenes might just be the other side of violent for some – but these punches look real and like they might actually hurt – rather than the usual slickly choreographed superhero stuff. Do not try this at home.

Do, on the other hand, go and see this movie – it feels real too.

I happened upon this movie by chance on Amazon late night recently. It is reminiscent of many of the small-scale British movies that came out in the 2000s. It does not have extravagant cinematography or anything extreme as far as sex or violence goes. Despite being unremarkable, this film still manages to be entertaining.

The two leads are well-cast and do the bulk of the acting in the movie. There is enough backstory provided for the audience to believe in the two leads. The villains of the movie who turn up at the bar are forgettable. The bar owner who dresses like a "Yank" had some good lines.

The fight scenes are very quick. They do happen with enough frequency to keep the viewer engaged with the story, though.

This is not a must-see film by any means. If you enjoy watching men be men on screen drinking, fighting and coming to terms with their mistakes in life, then this is a film for you.

A story of non-violent men in a terribly violent life.

Suffering from an unfortunate title and a stupid poster, this movie is easy to brush off, since scores of bland, copycat movies have already been made about the gritty backstreets of London. However, give this one a try. You won't be disappointed. In fact, it's a gem in its niche genre.

Paul is a bouncer. He has a face that looks like he's been run over by a train. His job is beating people up. He's the kind of man that you don't want to cross paths with.

However, just like the movie's poster and title, this first image is misleading. Paul is also surprisingly aware. He's aware of the people around him, he's aware of how they feel, what they think. He's good at his job not because he hits harder than the other guys, but because he's alert of the customers and can sense trouble before it starts. The only thing he couldn't predict (or predicted, but couldn't stop) is his ex, who left him for a shady (and of course, richer) club owner.

Tom, a successful ex-boxer but down on his luck, is hired by Paul. Paul has followed his career, knows him better than he knows himself, both respects and pities him for refusing a payment to take a dive in the past, and also recognizes his weakness, which is his own weakness: although these are tough guys by definition, dealing in delivering and taking brutal beatings on a daily basis, they also have strong emotional, human sides, which they subconsciously hide. In their gritty world, humanity is a weakness and there's no place for it. Any snotty drunk kid can pull a gun and shoot them, any loser who they escort out could be waiting around the corner with a knife the next evening. They need to be alert at all times, and above all, they always need to have cool heads.

The film doesn't really have a deep story, or what you could call a plot, but it has interesting characters in a setting where you don't expect to find anyone interesting. It won't be among anyone's top 10, or even top 100, but it's definitely worth seeing.

Watch for British legend Tom Bell, in a small role as a pub owner.

Very watchable, Brit crime drama, with a decent cast of actors and the fine Tom Bell, as a club owner called Billy the Cowboy. I really like the gritty feel to this one where others will no doubt see low budget. it has a realistic, low level Gangster vibe and when the retribution is dished out, it pulls no punches. I really miss the great acting talents of Tom Bell, in my mind the finest ever, British Actor.

A film which wasn't the best, but it was something! Being a fan of crime movies including gangster films I wasn't disappointed with "Dead Man's Cards." It was gritty and dark and of course showed us that some clubs are controlled by criminal elements! Many who have connections to the underworld of the city, that drug dealers use clubs to sell their gear in. They do this by paying off the bouncers and legitimate firms to employ bouncers to tell their bouncers to turn a blind eye for certain drug dealers and they'll collect a percentage of the profit.

I loved this film and would recommend it to any fan of the British Crime Genre, this does homage to the likes of Layer Cake... just with Scouse accents! Also, I would recommend "The Rise of The Footsoldier" to fans of this kind of film! Violent and bloody terrific!