Dead Ringer is an action film written and directed by Richard Colton. It is a modern version of Mark Twain's novel 'The Prince and the Pauper'. The film follows Jamie (portrayed by Luke White) who looks just like the head of the boy band D-5. When the main member of the band, Donny Martin (also portrayed by Luke White), presumably dies, he is approached by band manager Jaigan (portrayed by Amar Adatia) to take over Donny's identity. However, Jamie gets in over his head when learning Donny and Jaigan have a dark past that includes Jamie being kidnapped by drug kingpin, Ray Carter (portrayed by Bentley Kalu).
Also in supporting roles are Jamie's girlfriend Melanie (portrayed by Danielle Harold) and criminal Boyd (portrayed by Tom Sizemore).
The film has a pretty interesting twist on Mark Twain's novel to have the "poor character" take over the identity of a famous musician. I like the concept and could appreciate the plot involving the drug trade.
However, this is not a good film. The acting is pretty poor. I like Jamie's character. But the portrayal wasn't great and I thought he was the best character in the film. The main antagonist, Ray, feels so over the top that he doesn't feel realistic.
The film has a very small budget and you can tell. The action scenes aren't choreographed in a way that makes them look real. The most famous actor is Tom Sizemore who probably has less than three minutes of screen time.
Overall this has decent plot that might have been a good film with a different cast and higher budget - 2/10.
