Showing from Apr. 12: Dead Man Down **

Stars: Colin Farrell, Noomi Rapace, Terrence Howard
Director: Niels Arden Oplevgh
Rated: R
Showing: Southside Theatre: Call 297-2821 for show times.
Runtime: 110 minutes
Action, crime, drama

Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace star as two damaged souls in Dead Man Down, a moody twist of hyper-violent vengeance and heartache where death is hand-delivered, mercy is hard to come by and love is never easy.

The slow-simmering potboiler is the first American film for Danish director Niels Arden Oplev, who created such a cold, calculating thrill, with Rapace as his muse, in the 2009 Swedish version of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. An international sensation, it put Rapace on everyone’s radar and opened Hollywood’s door for Oplev.

Dead Man Down won’t be another career-definer for either director or actress — the filmmaker does have a better understanding of what to do with Rapace. Neither the silliness of Sherlock Homes: Game of Shadows nor the sci-fi of Prometheus, her first forays into U.S. box-office territory, quite got at Rapace’s strengths. Simply put, the actress works well in darkness, and there is darkness everywhere here.