Fifty Dead Men Walking
Fifty Dead Men Walking brings back the excellent Across the Universe star Jim Sturgess in a markedly different role (even though he does “sing” so to speak) but again one from a different generation. Here he becomes Martin McGartland, a Belfast delinquent thanks in large part to the sectarian segregation that brought about the class struggle so incongruous to the rest of the world that smouldered in Northern Ireland for decades and came to a head in the seventies and eighties. His felonious dealings leave him even less enamoured with the police than the consensus at the time that the Garda were acting in lock step with the British government. However one high ranking cop named Fergus (Ben Kingsley) managed to recruit him to spy on the IRA at great danger to not only Martin but to his new young family. His work inspired McGartland’s 1999 book and also saved 50 men from certain assassination. Although subtitles would have been nice to translate the accents that are as thick as mutton stew, Canadian writer/director Kari Stagland brings us a gripping biopic with enough suspense and grit to delight even the most cynical who grumbles about Telefilm Canada wasting tax payers money.