Spanish filmmaker Luis Prieto had a
tall order to fill with Pusher. Which is a British remake of the 1996
Danish Nicolas Winding Refn film of the same name. I was highly
skeptical about this picture, considering the the original Pusher is
a highly regarded film and personally one of my favorite Refn films.
Starting out with the biggest differences between the two is the
original Pusher took place in the deep dark belly of the Danish
underworld. While the remake is much more glitzy and glamorous,
taking place in many high end techno blasting night clubs. It ditches
the grit for a more stylized approach which actually works for the
film. The music is another huge part of the films success, composed
by British dance band “Orbital”. The techno tracks add a nice
kinetic feeling to the film and Prieto keeps the film moving at a
nice frantic pace.
Pusher tells the story of Frank (Richard Coyle) he's a small time
coke dealer living in London. He's living the good life with his
stripper girlfriend Flo (Agyness Deyn) and his
sexually hopeless buddy Tony (Bronson Webb). One day out of the clear
blue Frank is contacted by an old cellmate Marlon (Neil Maskell, Kill
List). Marlon is looking for a good amount of coke, around forty
five thousand worth. Frank meets up with a contact of his, Milo
(Zlatko Burić) a ruthless Serbian gangster. The deal is simple, Milo
will loan the 48K worth of gear to Frank. Frank will make the deal
with Milo and bring the money back. Paying Milo back and taking care
of his debt of 3 grand that he already owes Milo.
Of coarse things go
horribly wrong for dear Frank. The deal seems to be going off without
a hitch until Frank is swarmed by cops. He books it and ends up
standing knee deep in a river with the cops approaching him. What's
the man to do? He dumps the drugs into the water, destroying any and
all evidence. He's arrested but not booked because he didn't have any
drugs on him. He's let go but the man is facing a bigger problem. He
doesn't have the money or the drugs for Milo. Obviously Milo isn't amused by this and doesn't believe that Frank was arrested. This is
where the film really kicks into overdrive as Frank will do anything
to get Milo his money back... otherwise he'll end up in a body bag.
As
mentioned before I was highly skeptical about this remake. To I
thought “Oh great, they are taking one of the best Danish crime
films ever made and turn it into your typical East End gangster
dreck.”. Happily this isn't the case at all with this film. Sure
the flick still follows the original pretty closely. It's not a shot
for shot remake like say the god-awful Psycho remake. But all the
main connective tissue of the original film are here and all the
major set pieces are carried over as well. One carry over from the
original Refn film is actor Zlatko Burić. Who absolutely steals
everyone of his scenes as the Serb gangster who when not doing
various nefarious activity's actually enjoys cooking (Yes, he's an
awful cook.) One of the funniest scenes is were Milo insists Frank
try one of his pastries, the look on Franks face says it all. Milo
is the sort of character who's as happy go lucky as they come. He'll
greet you with a big smile and a hug and a warm welcome. But if you
get on his bad side he has no problem with torturing you and laying
down plastic and pulling out the carving knives.
Richard Coyle as Frank
was a fantastic casting choice. In the UK Coyle is very known for the
show “Coupling”. Think of that as the British version of Friends,
so UK audiences had a tough time initially buying him in the role of a
tough guy. Luckily for most of us Americans we never saw that side of
Coyle. You'll recognize him from Renny Harlin's (underrated) Five Days
Of War. Coyle was also one of the stars of Outpost II. So horror fans
might recognize the dude as he has an Irish horror/comedy creature
feature “Grabbers” hitting the states soon.
Coyle is very
believable as the classic guy in over his head scenario. His acting
chops let him go from a tough intimidating presence to a more vulnerable person. The supporting cast is equally excellent, Bronson
Webb as Frank's friend Tony is a scene stealer. Tony's life is all
about coke and talking about getting with women, yet he's hopeless
when dealing with the opposite sex. But his happy go lucky attitude
makes sure he never get's down on himself. Interestingly enough in
the original Refn film the character of Tony was played by the one
and only Mads Mikkelsen! Who's finally enjoying some much deserved
respect and fame in America with “Hannibal”.
Agyness Deyn is a
revelation in her role of Flo. Agyness was mainly known as a super
model in the UK. Usually the transition from super model to actress
isn't effective, but Agyness kills the role. Flo could have easily
have been the typical “hooker with a heart of gold” character
that we've seen to death. But Agyness plays her character with a lot
of class and dignity.
Overall this is a
highly enjoyable British crime flick, it boasts superior production
values and performances then your typical Brit crime flick of late.
Anchor Bay brings
Pusher to Blu-ray in a glorious 1080P widescreen transfer, presented
in it's original 2.40:1 aspect ratio. The transfer here is nearly
perfect and this Blu-ray would be an excellent choice if you were
looking to show off your home entertainment center. It's as reference quality as you can get on Blu-ray. Outstanding.
The 5.1 DTS-HD master audio is a fantastic well balanced track.
The 5.1 DTS-HD master audio is a fantastic well balanced track.
Last up is “Premiere
Q & A with the Director, Producer & Cast”, this little panel Q&A runs about 12 minutes. Everyone is pretty much
accounted for Agyness,
Coyle, Prieto and even exec producer Nicolas Winding Refn! It's a
pretty interesting Q & A which I actually wish was longer.
All
and all I had a BLAST with Pusher! It's easily one of the best
British crime films of the last few years. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
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