DEAD MAN RUNNING is a typical expletive-laden British gangster movie that trades on past glories. All of the actors involved play characters who are mere riffs on their former glories and the plot, about a hostage situation and the attempt to make a great deal of money in a very short time in order to pay off a gambling debt, are very predictable.
The consistently uninspiring Tamer Hassan is the main character who is driven to the edge when his mother, Brenda Blethyn, is held hostage by a shotgun-wielding psychopath. Said psycho is played by Phil Davis, enjoyably riffing on his crazy turn in FACE, and he's the best thing in the movie. For her part, Blethyn feels miscast and hard to take seriously, although she's better than the one-note Hassan.
The rest of the film wallows in clichés and low rent situations, although it's not quite the worst I've seen of this genre; at least some of the comedy is funny in places. Danny Dyer has the typecast role of Hassan's buddy and is one again the naughty-but-nice tearaway. Alan Ford and Omid Djalili have cameos, the former welcome, the latter not so much. Worst of the group is rapper 50 Cent in a 'take the money and run' type turn as the crime boss.
The consistently uninspiring Tamer Hassan is the main character who is driven to the edge when his mother, Brenda Blethyn, is held hostage by a shotgun-wielding psychopath. Said psycho is played by Phil Davis, enjoyably riffing on his crazy turn in FACE, and he's the best thing in the movie. For her part, Blethyn feels miscast and hard to take seriously, although she's better than the one-note Hassan.
The rest of the film wallows in clichés and low rent situations, although it's not quite the worst I've seen of this genre; at least some of the comedy is funny in places. Danny Dyer has the typecast role of Hassan's buddy and is one again the naughty-but-nice tearaway. Alan Ford and Omid Djalili have cameos, the former welcome, the latter not so much. Worst of the group is rapper 50 Cent in a 'take the money and run' type turn as the crime boss.