Dead Man's Cards (2006)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

James Marquand

Writers:

James Marquand (writer)
James McMartin (writer)

Release Date:

15 December 2006 (UK)

Genre:

Western | Thriller

Tagline:

Even the bravest men fall

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Punctuation In Title | Apostrophe In Title

Cast

Paul Barber	...	Paul
Tom Bell	...	Billy The Cowboy
Samantha Womack	...	Kris (as Samantha Janus)
Gary Mavers	...	Bob
James McMartin	...	Tom
Lisa Parry	...	Mary
Mark Russell	...	Chongi
Andrew Schofield	...	Hawk
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Vinnie Adams	...	Jimmy the Pimp
Anthony Ankrah	...	Jimmy's gang member
Jamiel Asije	...	Mate of Man With Money
Robin John Barlow	...	Hoodie
Kimberley Barrett	...	Barmaid 1 (as Kim Barrett)
Carl Chase	...	Fester
Li Clark	...	Kevin 2
Henry Clequin	...	Joe
Colin Roy Colquhoun	...	Mr. Briggs
Sheldon Craigwell	...	Young Fighter
Reg Edwards	...	Barman
Gemma Evans	...	Stripper
Phil Evers	...	Funky Phil
Dave Feldman	...	Boozer
Chris Finch	...	Teddy Bear
Annie Fitzmaurice	...	Mum of cheeky kid
Ken George	...	Nathan
Dean Grieve	...	Glass Collector
Laura Hamilton	...	Student Girl
Ged Hunter	...	Scally 2
Ashley Hyland	...	Angry Punter
David Joffey	...	Tony Bennett drunk
Robert Karn	...	Man at Bar
Jon Keats	...	Silvarno
Samuel Ayo Laoye	...	Jimmy's gang member
Carl Learmond	...	Arrogant Fighter
James Ledsham	...	Lead Bully
Joseph Leith	...	Bizzie 2
Barry Loughran	...	Scally with Pepper Spray
Stephen Malden	...	Bully's Gang Member
Tom Marquand	...	Cheeky Kid
Peter McCarthy	...	Big Zack
Sean McKee	...	Blue Eyes
Simon Mead	...	Chongi's Heavy
Jason Mulhearn	...	Kevin 1
Paul Christopher Murphy	...	Crackhead
Sophie Olivia	...	Paul's ex-missus
Luke Parkinson	...	Luke
Lora Pilling	...	Barmaid 2 (as Lora Cullen)
Paul Pilnik	...	Drunk
Mark Plonsky	...	Student who gets shot
Laurie Rea	...	Bizzie 1
Stephen Short	...	Chongi's Heavy
Andrew Simister	...	Romeo Brown
Ben Simpson	...	Christmas Hat Seller
Errol Smith
James Tremarco	...	Jimmy V
Lea Walton	...	Romeo's oppo
Curtis Watt	...	Young glass collector
Spencer Wilding	...	Bar Brawler
Alex Wise	...	Man at Bar

Runtime:

110 min | 90 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Australia:MA (2007) | New Zealand:R18

Filming Locations:

Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK

Company:

Stray Dog Films

Trivia:

This is the debut feature length film for director James Marquand.

Misfiring gangster movie with style but no real substance

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Tom (James McMartin) is a former prize fighting boxer who has fallen on hard times and is stuck in a loveless marriage with his nagging wife Kris (Samantha Janus, sounding like her voice has been dubbed by Jennifer Ellison!) He jumps at the chance to work as a doorman at a run down drinking hole cum nightclub run by extravagant owner Billy the Cowboy (Tom Bell), where old hack Paul (Paul Barber) teaches him the ropes and opens his eyes to what the job involves. The club soon gets problems with drugs and drug dealers and when the current local top bad boy starts putting pressure on Tom to work for him, it causes him to question his loyalties and whether doing what's best or what's right is the best thing to do.

Though Dead Man's Cards had escaped my radar for a bit, it did stick in my mind as it had been described as a cold, brutal, unflinching gangster movie that pulled no punches. Given this, this is what I was expecting and unfortunately, all I got was a film with no real substance at all. No truly shocking scenes, no really stand out performances, nothing to really stick in the mind and make it memorable. Just an incoherent, disjointed and totally uninvolving tale that failed to bring the Liverpool gangster scene to life, a shame since the London one has been explored to death. Sadly, this is more likely to just bore you to death. *