Movie Review: Jim Sturgess is a Tout in Fifty Dead Men Walking

In the late 1980s, a young hooligan by the name of Martin McGartland served as a "tout", or an informer, for the British special forces occupying Northern Ireland. The men of the title, "Fifty Dead Men Walking", are those whose lives were saved due to Martin's tips on impending terrorist attacks at the hands of the IRA. McGartland himself, who is still in hiding, has dismissed the movie by saying that it misrepresented him. Accurate or not, however, "Fifty Dead Men Walking" is one of the most pleasant surprises of the year - it's a well acted thriller as gripping as anything released this year not named "The Hurt Locker".

The film takes place during The Troubles in 1980s Northern Ireland. The Irish Republican Army is at war with the British troops occupying their city. The British want to retain Northern Ireland as a part of the United Kingdom, and the IRA, on other hand, quite simply sees them as intruders. They fight by any means necessary, frequently using violent terrorist attacks against their British opposition.

Martin McGartland (Jim Sturgess) is a hustler who sells whatever he can get his hands on. It's this recklessness that makes him appeal to a man known as Fergus (Ben Kingsley), one of the officers of the Special Branch of the British police. After Martin is arrested by the British army, Fergus recruits him to infiltrate the IRA.

It's not long before McGartland gains the trust of the organization. As their assassination attempts keep going wrong, however, Martin's pal and friendly rival, Sean (Kevin Zegers), starts suspecting foul play. Meanwhile, Martin has just moved in with his new girlfriend, Lara (Nathalie Press), with whom he has a son.

Although comparisons could be made to any number of espionage pictures, like "The Departed", for instance, the film very much reminded me of one of 2007's best, "Boy A". It's another film from the UK, both with promising fresh faces in leading roles, in which young men become in over their heads with a world completely against them. Both protagonists have loving girlfriends, both have a father figure, and both end up in a hell of a lot of trouble by the last half hour.

Sturgess, who also appeared in "Across the Universe", is remarkable. It's a breakthrough performance that gives us a protagonist both reckless and fragile, heroic and cowardly. Kingsley is, as always, remarkably elegant - however, I can't quite say the same for his wig.

The film isn't perfect. It showboats a little too often with unneeded montages, and it's perhaps a bit over-plotted (Rose McGowan shows up so that Rose McGowan can be in the movie). Despite those minor gripes, however, I was pleasantly surprised by this overlooked gem - it's performances are memorable, it's script is sharp, and it's action sequences are gritty and thrilling.