STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
Nick (Tamer Hassan) is trying to put his criminal past behind him and start up a successful travel agents. But he's in money worries getting it off the ground and even worse American gangster Mr. Thigo (50 Cent) has arrived in London and Nick owes him quite a bit of money. And just to remind him, Thigo takes his mother hostage and gives him twenty four hours to find the cash he owes him...or she dies. And so, with the assistance of his quirky business partner Bing (Danny Dyer) he begins a mad dash around the capital and even up north getting into scrapes involving underworld kingpins, motorway police and the lowest of the criminal underworld.
This latest addition to the Brit gangster flick came out of nowhere but looked rather slick and stylish, not to mention having the surprise inclusion of well known rap icon 50 Cent in the cast. Alas, it looks really cheap and awful, shot with a murky camera lens through out that brings it down a peg or two. But that's not the main thing wrong with Dead Man Running, a vapid, empty affair that fails to be thrilling or funny in any way. Even a lively supporting cast in the shape of Brenda Blethyn, Phillip Davis, Scot Williams and Ashley Walters can't bring it to life, plenty of material to go on but failing to strike a chord with any of it. As for lead stars Dyer and Hassan, they've worked well together before, but it would seem they fall apart without Nick Love to guide them. *
Nick (Tamer Hassan) is trying to put his criminal past behind him and start up a successful travel agents. But he's in money worries getting it off the ground and even worse American gangster Mr. Thigo (50 Cent) has arrived in London and Nick owes him quite a bit of money. And just to remind him, Thigo takes his mother hostage and gives him twenty four hours to find the cash he owes him...or she dies. And so, with the assistance of his quirky business partner Bing (Danny Dyer) he begins a mad dash around the capital and even up north getting into scrapes involving underworld kingpins, motorway police and the lowest of the criminal underworld.
This latest addition to the Brit gangster flick came out of nowhere but looked rather slick and stylish, not to mention having the surprise inclusion of well known rap icon 50 Cent in the cast. Alas, it looks really cheap and awful, shot with a murky camera lens through out that brings it down a peg or two. But that's not the main thing wrong with Dead Man Running, a vapid, empty affair that fails to be thrilling or funny in any way. Even a lively supporting cast in the shape of Brenda Blethyn, Phillip Davis, Scot Williams and Ashley Walters can't bring it to life, plenty of material to go on but failing to strike a chord with any of it. As for lead stars Dyer and Hassan, they've worked well together before, but it would seem they fall apart without Nick Love to guide them. *