It's 1989, and in a Belfast torn apart by conflict and terrorism, petty criminal Marty McGartland is recruited by the British police to infiltrate the IRA. Guided by Special Forces officer 'Fergus', McGartland gains unparalleled insight into the organisation's dealings, providing his British handler with priceless, life-saving information. Based on a true story.
Fifty Dead Men Walking provides another example of what happens when mediocre moviemaking meets an interesting life.
– Wesley Morris,
Boston Globe,
20 Aug 2009
fresh:
A streamlined, adrenalized thriller that is not as deep as it would like to appear, treads a retrospective political tightrope.
– Stephen Holden,
New York Times,
21 Aug 2009
fresh:
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.
– Joe Neumaier,
New York Daily News,
21 Aug 2009
fresh:
Skogland is a crisp and efficient storyteller. She keeps the players vivid and relatively honest, and never shies away from the brutalities.
– Michael Phillips,
Chicago Tribune,
21 Aug 2009
fresh:
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.