Fifty Dead Men Walking (2008)
79%RT Audience Score: 68%
Awards & Nominations: 7 wins & 6 nominations
Though somewhat uneven in places, Fifty Dead Men Walking is a gripping portrayal of Ireland’s violent history, carried by the strong performances of its lead actors
Fifty Dead Men Walking is like a rollercoaster ride, but instead of loops and drops, it’s filled with tense stand-offs and spontaneous riots. Jim Sturgess plays a believable cocky lad who signs on for the con, while Ben Kingsley is oddly bewigged and too actorly as his handler. The film is visually sumptuous despite a budget of pocket-change proportions, and director Kari Skogland is a crisp and efficient storyteller who never shies away from the brutalities. It’s not the deepest film out there, but it’s an action-packed historical Irish thriller that’s worth a watch.
Production Company(ies)
Warner Bros., Legendary Entertainment, Syncopy
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Ardglass, County Down, Northern Ireland, UK
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for strong brutal violence and torture, language and some sexuality
Year of Release
2009
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:Canada
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Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Jan 5, 2010
Genre(s)
Action
Keyword(s)
Fifty Dead Men Walking, R-rated, Action, 1h 57m, Ben Kingsley, Jim Sturgess, Kevin Zegers, Natalie Press, Rose McGowan, Tom Collins, directed by Kari Skogland, written by Nicholas Davies, Martin McGartland, Kari Skogland, Ireland’s violent history, strong performances, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Hank Sartin, Lisa Schwarzbaum, Michael Phillips, Joe Neumaier, Stephen Holden, Ryan Stewart, Sarah Manvel, Dennis Schwartz, Ben Rawson-Jones, Mike Edwards, Amber Wilkinson, MPAA rating, producer names, Martin McGartland
Worldwide gross: $812,872
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,123,479
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,574
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 122,517
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Jim Sturgess – Martin
Kevin Zegers – Sean
Natalie Press – Lara
Rose McGowan – Grace
Tom Collins – Mikey
Director(s)
Kari Skogland
Writer(s)
Nicholas Davies, Martin McGartland, Kari Skogland
Producer(s)
NA
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
7 wins & 6 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (52) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (43) | Rotten (9)
November 18, 2011 | Rating: 3/5
Hank Sartin
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Jim Sturgess makes a believable cocky lad who signs on for the con; an oddly bewigged Ben Kingsley is fussier and too actorly as his handler.
August 26, 2009 | Rating: B
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
Skogland is a crisp and efficient storyteller. She keeps the players vivid and relatively honest, and never shies away from the brutalities.
August 21, 2009 | Rating: 3/4
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
Sturgess is solid and Kingsley predictably sneaky, but the atmosphere — scurries through the Catholic/Protestant border, tense stand-offs, spontaneous riots — is what’s genuinely gripping.
August 21, 2009 | Rating: 3/5
Joe Neumaier
New York Daily News
TOP CRITIC
A streamlined, adrenalized thriller that is not as deep as it would like to appear, treads a retrospective political tightrope.
August 21, 2009 | Rating: 4/5
Stephen Holden
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
Impressively compact in its storytelling and visually sumptuous despite a budget of pocket-change proportions.
August 21, 2009 | Rating: 3/4
Ryan Stewart
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
In making a film about a real person’s choices, Ms. Skogland should have been brave enough to say whether or not she agreed with them. By saying nothing, she says more than she seems to be aware.
August 9, 2018
Sarah Manvel
Critic’s Notebook
An action-packed historical Irish thriller.
July 13, 2015 | Rating: B-
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
Fifty Dead Men Walking is a largely uninvolving crime thriller that fails to do justice to the intriguing story of an informant within the IRA.
July 14, 2011 | Rating: 2/5
Ben Rawson-Jones
Digital Spy
A ‘war on terror’ thriller set in Ireland? Surprisingly, it works.
March 13, 2011 | Rating: 3.5/5
Mike Edwards
What Culture
Despite trying a little too hard to be cool and edgy, this is nevertheless an entertaining thriller with a decent twist.
September 14, 2009 | Rating: 3/5
Amber Wilkinson
Eye for Film
One of the more absorbing and riveting portraits of The Troubles since 1993’s In the Name of the Father.
September 11, 2009 | Rating: 3/4
Mike Scott
Times-Picayune…
Plot
Based on Martin McGartland’s shocking real life story. Martin is a young lad from west Belfast in the late 1980s who is recruited by the British Police to spy on the IRA. He works his way up the ranks as a volunteer for the IRA whilst feeding information to his British handler and saving lives in the process.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Ben Kingsley is described as “oddly bewigged” in his role as Fergus.
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