Kari Skogland writes and directs this gritty portrait of life in late '80s and early '90s Belfast, based on the eye-opening book by real-life informer Martin McGartland. Fifty Dead Men Walking is an incredible story of bravery and self-sacrifice, about one young man who risked his life to do what he thought was right, during the height of the conflict. \"The price of conscience is death,\" one character warns McGartland in the film and he certainly pays a hefty price for his courage and daring: separation from his beloved wife and two children and an uncertain future, permanently on the run from the countrymen he dared to betray under a false name. Unfolding in flashback, Skogland's film steps back in time to 1988 Northern Ireland, where wheeler dealer best friends Martin (Jim Sturgess) and Sean (Kevin Zegers) hawk products door to door for cash in the hand, gleefully ignoring the visible signs of tension between British forces and the IRA. All Martin cares about is earning money - by any and every means possible, regardless of the legality of his deals - to keep a roof over the head of his pregnant girlfriend Lara (Natalie Press). When the police catch up with him, Martin refuses to grass on members of his community and he is eventually released, reuniting with Sean who introduces him to a grateful IRA operative called Ray (William Houston). In turn, Martin lands a job for Ray's superior Micky Adams (Tom Collins) and finds himself gravitating towards the organisation's upper echelons of power. Once again, a British Special Branch handler called Fergus (Kingsley) approaches Martin and offers him a significant amount of money to inform against the IRA. This time the father-to-be reluctantly accepts, believing his identity as a mole will be fiercely protected. However, a mission to Scotland with Grace Sterrin (Rose McGowan) - \"She uses her body with deadly force. She's like Mata Hari!\" - almost ends in disaster. As the pressure on Martin intensifies and it becomes increasingly difficult to tip off Fergus to IRA operations before they take place, the organisation's die-hard supporters initiate a search for the traitor in their midst and the finger of suspicion eventually points at the new recruit. \"It seems whenever you're around, nothing blows up,\" someone remarks suspiciously. Having dragged Martin into the middle of a war, can Fergus save him, especially when his man's powerful friends spring a little surprise? \"By the way, it's only me and you know the exact location,\" grins Micky, referring to an imminent, high profile assassination. Now Martin faces a terrible dilemma: to expose himself by saving the innocent or let them die to maintain his cover. Fifty Dead M, en Walking confidently evokes an era of bloodshed and retaliation, eliciting strong performances from Sturgess (sporting a credible accent) and Kingsley, the latter acting as narrator and surrogate father to a young man always one step ahead of tragedy. \"We uphold the law and break the law in the name of the law,\" laments Fergus as his secret operation falls apart at the seams, the tension escalating by the minute as Martin will be slain for his duplicitous actions. \"It's harder to live for your country than die for it,\" adds the British operative. Never a truer word... Press' feisty spouse remains too much on the periphery, failing to provide an emotional anchor that would make Martin's ultimate fate all the more heartbreaking.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div>","fnc":"googleTrackerHelper.doTrackPage( '\/'Fifty-Dead-Men-Walking-film_options~19186'\/Reviews\/ViewAll\/1' );"}