Dead Man’s Shoes **** (2004, Paddy Considine, Toby Kebbell, Gary Stretch, Stuart Wolfenden) – Classic Movie Review 13,467

Shane Meadows’s excellent, expert, tough-toned 2004 British revenge thriller film Dead Man’s Shoes stars Paddy Considine, Toby Kebbell and Gary Stretch. 

Director Shane Meadows’s excellent, expertly made and extremely tough-toned 2004 British psychological thriller revenge film Dead Man’s Shoes stars Paddy Considine, Toby Kebbell (in his debut), Gary Stretch and Stuart Wolfenden.

Paddy Considine stars as Richard, a disaffected British Army paratrooper soldier who returns to his home town of Matlock, Derbyshire, to get even with the local drug dealer thugs, led by the vicious gang leader Sonny (Gary Stretch), who brutally abused his mentally-impaired autistic younger brother Anthony (Toby Kebbell) years ago.

Dead Man’s Shoes a very grim but most powerful film with tremendous performances, especially by Considine and Kebbell, and a gripping story to tell. Handle with care, it is not a date movie for those who looking for polite entertainment.

It is written by Shane Meadows, Paddy Considine and Paul Fraser.

Filming took place in summer 2003 over three weeks.

It was released in the UK on 1 October 2004 and in the US on 12 May 2006.

It cost £723,000 and took only £183,740 at the UK box office, for an eventual total of $414,736 worldwide.

Tobias Alistair Patrick Kebbell (born 9 July 1982)

Toby Kebbell was born on July 9,1982, in Pontefract, Yorkshire, but grew up in Nottinghamshire. He trained in acting at the Central Junior Television Workshop in Nottingham, where Shane Meadows saw him and then cast him in Dead Man’s Shoes. Kebbell only had three days to prepare for the film. He was nominated for Most Promising Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards 2004, and in the same year appeared in Oliver Stone’s Alexander and Woody Allen’s Match Point.

The cast

The cast are Paddy Considine as Richard, Toby Kebbell as Anthony, Gary Stretch as Sonny, Stuart Wolfenden as Herbie, Neil Bell as Soz, Paul Sadot as Tuff, Seamus O’Neil as Big Al, George Newton as Gypsy John, Paul Hurstfield as Mark, Emily Aston as Patti, Jo Hartley as Marie, Craig Considine as Craig, Matt Considine as Matt, Andrew Shim as Elvis, and Kephas Leroc as K.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,467

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