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United Kingdom, Canada · 2008
Rated R · 1h 57m
Director Kari Skogland
Starring Ben Kingsley, Jim Sturgess, Kevin Zegers, Natalie Press
Genre Action, Thriller
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Based on Martin McGartland’s real life autobiography about his time as a spy undercover in the IRA for the British police. Taking place from 1987-1991 during The Troubles in Ireland, Martin works his way up the ranks of the IRA, keeping his true identity hidden amidst years of civil violence.
The unfitting flashiness and clunky segues between thriller and melodrama kill any real sense of tension, making this a poor man's "Donnie Brasco"--that is, if its self-congratulation and failure to contextualize the values on both sides of the ethno-political struggle didn't already make it the poor man's "Hunger."
Think Donnie Brasco, with the IRA instead of the Mafia. Jim Sturgess dominates with a star-making turn, although some stylistic slip-ups let him down a little.
Kari Skogland’s flashy yet dead-on-arrival drama turns Belfast’s backstreet battlefields into music-video backgrounds.
Chicago Tribune by Michael Phillips
Sharp, well-acted film.
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
Setting entirely aside the accuracy of the film, the IRA still has him marked for death, and indeed there was an attempt on his life in Canada 10 years after he fled. He’s still out there somewhere.
The A.V. Club by Tasha Robinson
What makes Fifty Dead Men work is the story’s sheer moral complexity, which dares viewers to sympathize with anyone onscreen for more than a few minutes at a time.
A richer movie might speculate on McGartland’s life now. How does a local hero survive in an anonymous void?
Hope is a weapon, survival is a victory.