Fifty Dead Men Walking

This film is not much different from other IRA dramas, but it is a decent representative of this particular sub-genre, thanks especially to Jim Sturgess and Ben Kingsley and their wonderfully written characters. Had the last third been edited a little, with a faster escalation into the dramatic climax, it could have merited a stronger four stars. Overall, the film is narrated with less ferocity than it could have been. Even so, it remains a captivating and powerful drama. (04/10/2012)

An Irish version of Internal Affairs with an almost extraordinarly likeable protagonist, and that's in spite of his marriage swindler's moustache. I was expecting something more in the style of The Baader Meinhof Complex, but what the hell. (07/05/2009)

When watching Fifty Dead Men Walking, I remembered a similar Spanish production called Wolf, where the main character infiltrated the ranks of the Basque separatist organization ETA. That comparison did not go well for Fifty Dead Men Walking because Wolf seemed much more cinematic and better developed. In the case of the British film, the screenplay seemed somehow unfinished, and the important motives for the protagonist's actions and decisions were either concealed or untrustworthy. Additionally, the real Martin McGartland was driven by much less altruism in his activities than the film tries to convince the viewer of, and his motivations were more down-to-earth. The whole process of breaking and recruiting a collaborator for the British security services is very rushed and in practice, Martin's decision based on such an offer would be pure foolishness. Of course, the film heavily relies on the environment in which it takes place, namely a war-torn and terrorized country, and it is based on true events, although, as is quite common and logical, it partly interprets them according to its own interpretation. Even though I would like to give it four stars, it seems too much like a TV film to me and I am disappointed by the wasted potential. Overall impression: 65%. (03/12/2011)

Unfortunately, a big disappointment. Kari Skogland doesn't know where to go and Sheridan is clearly not too interested. The attempt at a raw performance is nothing special, and the chaotic action like in Blade 2 is not enough. The issue of IRA is presented as it suits the creators, as a secondary framework of the film, not the main theme. This is unfortunately directed at the fairly solid Jim Sturgess. (12/26/2009)

Whistleblower movies have the problem that you can break twenty pencils over a script and still come out with the same thing that's been here before in another movie of this type. The progression is always pretty much the same – the guy disagrees, then yeah, it looks good, he falls in love, someone starts to suspect something, wife starts to suspect something, then major disaster. Fifty Dead Men Walking relies on a damp Northern Ireland and a pissed off IRA, which always works for me (I like thematically European guerrilla). It's grey, with the occasional car on fire, narrow brick streets, and the ubiquitous fences and troops wielding L85A1s (one of the most beautiful weapons ever). It works, and you can even forgive the bouncy camera in the dramatic scenes. Fifty Dead Men Walking works – it's handled with precision, the direction doesn't fall into the routine, and the paranoid inferno of the second half builds up brilliantly. Satisfaction. (02/01/2011)