I came away from Dead Man's Shoes with a sense of pride; a sense of acknowledgment; a feeling that British film at its lowest budget level and at its grittiest and simplest is very much alive and active. The reaction I had also affected the way I perceive Hollywood a little bit more; it's true that films like Zodiac, Blood Diamond and Apocalypto occupy my top three of 2007 but even some of them and the many others on that list do not match the fondness and recognition that I had for Dead Man's Shoes upon seeing it – the great thing is, this was extensively levelled down in terms of funding but pumped up in terms of quality. Make no mistake, Dead Man's Shoes is very good.<br /><br />I suppose in order to identify this film, I'd have to borrow from America somewhat but that is no shame; this film is 1988's Rain Man meets a hard as nails, gritty revenge film – perhaps something staring James Cagney in his pomp. But it is a revenge film with an air of indifference; the film is often funny, often touching and often heart-warming in its portrayal of inept small time crooks, its nasty flashbacks of bullying and its small inclusion of scenes in which someone with special needs is present and displaying his innocence. While I have only seen the rather underwhelming Once Upon a Time in the Midlands from director Shane Meadows, this isn't so much as a jolt back in the right direction as it is a full blown shove back onto the correct tracks. Meadows directs and unfolds his story in a brilliant manner but in a manner that utilises so many techniques that we the audience flip from happy to sad to anger to disgust and in such a way that we have time to appreciate what we're seeing; feeling and what we think of it all.<br /><br />Paddy Considine plays Richard, a soldier fresh back from, what I can only assume to be, the horrors of Iraq and the Iraq war going on. But where road side bombs and ambushes have been erased, Richard is psychologically stuck with constant explosions going off in his mind – anger, rage, sadness and that lust for revenge when he learns his younger, more simple brother has suffered torment and bullying at the hands of the local drug dealers and young adults who have not matured enough to shake off that 'chav' mentality. Needless to say, he brings home the horrors of Iraq with him in all their bloody infamy in what could be one of the best post-war syndrome studies since Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. The film poster of said film on someone's flat wall perhaps hints at this.<br /><br />But apart from the horror and the tragedy, which does grab you thanks to some flashbacks that I eventually came to fear popping up, everything is revealed in a satisfying and balanced way. Initially, the users of the boy call him over and tap him on the back and invite him in and everything seems very harmless; we even think he is close enough to these people to go out and get some groceries for them if nothing else is on. But whatever we thought is quickly presented to us over and over in a, frankly, quite brilliant piece of directing and pacing as we realise these people are not what they are cracked up to be. Further utilisation of the kid follows; then it gets more serious when drugs and women come into play. Meadows also gets across the element of humour early on in his film; indeed, when you see Herbie (Wolfenden) trundle down the road in his Citroen 2CV with the other guys in the back, you cannot help but smirk at how real this all feels; at how these people are presented as people who live, breath, hang around in apartments and drive obscure cars.<br /><br />But then again, you get the feeling of disturbance. We are not aware of the true extent of things until much later but looking back at the events in the opening hour, the leisurely way in which the gang hang around and talk about nothing in particular considering what they have done is shocking. Meadows also gets across his feeling of foreboding and the sense its all building up to something. Richard's initial work that he carries out on the gang all feels as if it builds up to the big showdown with the final gang member; the one member we will feel a juxtaposition toward since he has a wife and two children. Onto the wrongdoers in question; initially, Herbie is introduced but then we get two of his lackey accomplices living in an apartment; onto a further pair of heavies that come over and finally, Sonny (Stretch) who is the chief antagonist in the bullying of the brother – to him, it goes beyond a joke; it turns into an actual hatred, a hatred of those with special needs with elements of fascism towards those who are not 'normal' starting to creep into the film and its character's psyche.<br /><br />So this is Meadows introducing to us the villains in stages; the targets Richard must deal with if he is to get his revenge – we are systematically told what Richard is up against but there is also that nice little touch of Richard showing up now and again with scare tactics. But with a hero on a mission and a twist that packs a punch Dead Man's Shoes is a big success. When he confronts the family man at the end, Richard himself says that he "is now the monster" which tells us that we do not have to root for him any more if we don't want to as he is confronting an apparent innocent but the film is brilliant in its build up, its finale and its attention to detail - great stuff.