User reviews

Liverpudlian ex-boxer, Tom Watts (James McMartin), one day finds himself impotent, jobless and burdened with a wife that is intent on leaving him. His life takes a twist, however, when he is hired as a bouncer and is immediately sucked into a dark and violent world of drugs, guns and gangsters who do a lot of unpleasant shouting and swearing. Conducted by James Marquand and funded by his own production company (Stray Dogs Films) 'Dead Man's Card's' resembles a drunk boxer: it certainly cracks a mean punch, but it lacks direction. The amateurish acting is not helped by an unimpressive script; however, the sinister and seedy setting is still competently created by Marquand. And although the story takes a dive in the closing rounds, the film is still a commendable debut from Stray Dog Films.

I happened upon this movie by chance on Amazon late night recently. It is reminiscent of many of the small-scale British movies that came out in the 2000s. It does not have extravagant cinematography or anything extreme as far as sex or violence goes. Despite being unremarkable, this film still manages to be entertaining.

The two leads are well-cast and do the bulk of the acting in the movie. There is enough backstory provided for the audience to believe in the two leads. The villains of the movie who turn up at the bar are forgettable. The bar owner who dresses like a "Yank" had some good lines.

The fight scenes are very quick. They do happen with enough frequency to keep the viewer engaged with the story, though.

This is not a must-see film by any means. If you enjoy watching men be men on screen drinking, fighting and coming to terms with their mistakes in life, then this is a film for you.

At this year's Edinburgh Festival, this movie truly made my week. Having for days been dragged through venues awash with self-conscious student theatre, the unpretentious grit of this film put me back on track.

No navel-gazing drama here, but a wonderfully darkly lit wide-screen world, filled with recalcitrant doormen (Paul Barber and James McMartin), a deluded wanna-be cowboy bar owner (Tom Bell), a cuddly crackhead (Andrew Scofield), and an array of Scouser cameos, delivering some of the off-hand comedy that flickers up here and there.

No message-laden, finger-wagging narrative either – instead we're dealt a strangely suspended, grimy, but somehow life-affirming status quo. One or two of the film's fight scenes might just be the other side of violent for some – but these punches look real and like they might actually hurt – rather than the usual slickly choreographed superhero stuff. Do not try this at home.

Do, on the other hand, go and see this movie – it feels real too.

This movie wasn't that good but Okay type. In an after-hours world of pug-faced souse smack addicts and street fights, James McMartin and his mentor Paul Barber are privy to a doorman's-eye-view of a life most of us only glimpse. Bulldog hard but bullfrog smart, they occupy a no-man's land between the police and the preps that evokes the lawlessness of the Wild West.

Conducted by James Marquand and funded by his own production company (Stray Dogs Films) 'Dead Man's Card's' resembles a drunk boxer

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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. *

Dead Man's Card's is a very good vs bad sort of London East End Western. It even has a saloon. The set up of the bar/nightclub, gave me some pause. It seemed too small to need two obviously A-grade bouncers. But I stayed with it and saw that, on certain nights, they somehow fitted in large crowds. By then I was starting to admire all the different characters. This is a very well cast and acted British crime movie, with an authentic script. I liked how the picture became more and more complicated. There was one character, a former mate of one of the bouncers, whom I thought the writers must have added in order to make up a full hand of character types, the problem being his story never really made any sense at all. In fact the premise for the movie fell a little short in my opinion. Like I said, a little bit too Western, but enjoyable if you like British realism and certainly worth a 7.

Thought that nightclubs were run by nice charming businessmen who wouldn't hurt a fly? Although Dead Man's Cards is one of the grittiest crime thrillers in British cinema since the gold standard of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, it should be enough to at least make you wonder if nightclubs aren't really controlled by the long arm of nasty criminal types, whether in knuckle dusters or smart suits.

I started watching this movie not expecting to like it, and there being more f-words in the first few minutes than my mother could have endured without fainting, felt my expectations were going to be fully realised, but it wasn't long before I had to admit I'd got it wrong. Dead Man's Cards breathes life into a genre that too often sags under the weight of its own excesses, and comes up with a hand of aces.

Ex-boxer Tom gets a job as a bouncer at a dive, much to his wife's disgust, and is soon initiated into the refined way of doing things. "If you wanna do someone in, take 'em out the back - no cameras," advises fellow doorman Paul. This being an age of political correctness, they undergo one of the legally required courses in non-violent restraint, which provides more opportunities for grim humour as Paul shows the instructor how to get out of his judo holds. Club manager Billy (Tom Bell) dresses as a cowboy, lives in fantasy land, and likes to think he's in charge until there's some argument about the going rate for security, at which point he hastily backtracks. Tom's wife wants to "do something like a normal couple" and whisks hubby off to communion, but he's still recovering from the night before and has to rush outside the church to vomit. He and Paul try to maintain their decency by brute force in the face of pressure from bigger club owners, but there's a limit to everything, including how many conflicting loyalties you can juggle especially with drug-fuelled hangovers and a slutty gun-toting barmaid determined to take advantage.

Many British gangster movies since Lock Stock (with the notable exception of Sexy Beast) foundered on too much comedy, complex and unrealistic plots, unconvincing characterisation or simply lack of talent. Dead Man's Cards cleverly succeeds where others have failed. Its only fault is that you could possibly struggle with the Liverpudlian accents, or it may be too violent for some viewers, but if the subject matter offends, you've been warned! There's no overriding message that I could discern, no lingering Oscar-worthy close-ups where we are invited to admire some unspoken subtext, just thumpingly honest entertainment that doesn't pull its punches. Director James Marquand's has scored a hit with first feature film, and we can only hope that, rather than be tempted to make Dead Man's Cards II, he goes on to make more equally original and incisive work.

Very watchable, Brit crime drama, with a decent cast of actors and the fine Tom Bell, as a club owner called Billy the Cowboy. I really like the gritty feel to this one where others will no doubt see low budget. it has a realistic, low level Gangster vibe and when the retribution is dished out, it pulls no punches. I really miss the great acting talents of Tom Bell, in my mind the finest ever, British Actor.

A film which wasn't the best, but it was something! Being a fan of crime movies including gangster films I wasn't disappointed with "Dead Man's Cards." It was gritty and dark and of course showed us that some clubs are controlled by criminal elements! Many who have connections to the underworld of the city, that drug dealers use clubs to sell their gear in. They do this by paying off the bouncers and legitimate firms to employ bouncers to tell their bouncers to turn a blind eye for certain drug dealers and they'll collect a percentage of the profit.

I loved this film and would recommend it to any fan of the British Crime Genre, this does homage to the likes of Layer Cake... just with Scouse accents! Also, I would recommend "The Rise of The Footsoldier" to fans of this kind of film! Violent and bloody terrific!

I enjoyed this gritty violent and quite amusing gangster flick. Its such an awful world that some people live in, it makes you grateful for what you have! Perhaps I am easily pleased. I don't care, at least I rarely get disappointed! I love British cinema. Its my home. People should be less critical, cinema is usually fiction, or someone Else's portrayal of real events. It cannot, by its very nature be 'REAL'. Unless its a first person documentary, even then its their take on events. Chill out and enjoy what out there; sometimes you have to turn your brain off; that does not mean you can't enjoy a bag of popcorn and a bottle of pop and make an evening of it!

I thought this was a great British film with the coolest car I have ever seen. I found out it was an American Pontiac Le-Mans from 1965. After doing some research on this film it seems some money or something was put up by George Lucas and maybe that and the American car in the movie explain why it seems to be coming an American cult classic film?. Anyway I though it was well acted by most of the star members of the cast and a good film to watch when you come home from the pub. A very good Brit film and on a par with any of the other well known Brit movies of the past 10 years. Hope to see it get some more publicity and hope it gets shown on TV in the next year. If you have not seen this film my advice is to watch it and see how Brit films should be made.

Working the door at Billy's Bar becomes increasingly hectic as burly ex-boxer, turned bouncer Tom (James McMartin) and his gruff bouncer buddy Paul (Paul Barber) take a stand against local drug dealing gangsters. A shouty Samantha Janus and a perma-soused Tom Bell also star in James Marquand's downbeat, bar-room brawling, knuckle dusted slug-fest Dead Man's Cards. Ex pugs, coked-up chavs, well 'ard bouncers, gun happy gangsters, and boozy thugs mix it up propah lively in this gritty Northern crime thriller. The performances and technical aspects of Marquand's explosive indie feature are impressive, with Paul Barber's magnetically menacing turn as the brutal ex-army doorman proving to be a real knockout!

A story of non-violent men in a terribly violent life.

Suffering from an unfortunate title and a stupid poster, this movie is easy to brush off, since scores of bland, copycat movies have already been made about the gritty backstreets of London. However, give this one a try. You won't be disappointed. In fact, it's a gem in its niche genre.

Paul is a bouncer. He has a face that looks like he's been run over by a train. His job is beating people up. He's the kind of man that you don't want to cross paths with.

However, just like the movie's poster and title, this first image is misleading. Paul is also surprisingly aware. He's aware of the people around him, he's aware of how they feel, what they think. He's good at his job not because he hits harder than the other guys, but because he's alert of the customers and can sense trouble before it starts. The only thing he couldn't predict (or predicted, but couldn't stop) is his ex, who left him for a shady (and of course, richer) club owner.

Tom, a successful ex-boxer but down on his luck, is hired by Paul. Paul has followed his career, knows him better than he knows himself, both respects and pities him for refusing a payment to take a dive in the past, and also recognizes his weakness, which is his own weakness: although these are tough guys by definition, dealing in delivering and taking brutal beatings on a daily basis, they also have strong emotional, human sides, which they subconsciously hide. In their gritty world, humanity is a weakness and there's no place for it. Any snotty drunk kid can pull a gun and shoot them, any loser who they escort out could be waiting around the corner with a knife the next evening. They need to be alert at all times, and above all, they always need to have cool heads.

The film doesn't really have a deep story, or what you could call a plot, but it has interesting characters in a setting where you don't expect to find anyone interesting. It won't be among anyone's top 10, or even top 100, but it's definitely worth seeing.

Watch for British legend Tom Bell, in a small role as a pub owner.