Synopsis
The story of former UVF member Alistair Little. Twenty-five years after Little killed Joe Griffen's brother, the media arrange an auspicious meeting between the two.
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Cast
- Liam NeesonAlistair Little
- James NesbittJoe Griffin
- Anamaria MarincaVika
- Mark RyderYoung Alistair - 1975
- Niamh CusackAlistair's Mum - 1975
- Paul GarrettAlistair's Dad - 1975
- Gerard JordanJim - 1975
- Conor MacNeillDave - 1975
- Diarmuid NoyesAndy - 1975
- Mathew McElhinneyStuart - 1975
Recommendations
- 80
Variety
Powerhouse performances by Liam Neeson and James Nesbit make this an intense, ultimately moving tale. - 80
Time Out
When violence eventually rears its ugly head again, the effect is as anticlimactic as the movie’s title is misleading. Brief bliss is a red herring; there’s only a lifetime of pain left in such acts’ wakes. - 75
The A.V. Club
Hirschbiegel fails to discipline his English-speaking cast, allowing Nesbitt so much rein with his caffeinated performance that sympathies shift to Neeson’s comparatively sanguine murderer. - 75
New York Post
The title of the overlong Fifty Dead Men Walking refers to lives saved by Sturgess' character, who is still in hiding years later. - 70
Salon
Captures the awful intimacy and the grimy, second-rate quality of the Northern Ireland conflict in resonant fashion. - 67
Entertainment Weekly
A forceful Neeson and an even more intense Nesbitt (Bloody Sunday) both show their stuff and obscure the unrelieved pain endured by the men they portray. - 50
The Hollywood Reporter
Based on a true story -- that never happened. That might explain why the film circles and circles its subject but never strikes dramatic pay dirt. - 50
Village Voice
The production design is spot-on, but Hirschbiegel tries way too hard to create tension, making every occurrence--a record needle dropping, a car door slamming--an unsubtle potential bomb, fraying your nerves like a cheap horror movie.
