‘Pusher’ Movie Review – Drugs Are Bad, M’Kay?
Inspired by a Danish film of the same name, Pusher tells the tragic, downward spiral story of Frank (Richard Coyle), a lower level drug dealer working the streets and clubs of London with his partner, Tony (Bronson Webb). When a major deal goes south, Frank finds himself scrambling to come up with a way to payback his supplier, crime boss Milo (Zlatko Buric).
I wish I could say that this was a unique story, but given that it’s a remake, obviously it’s been done before. The one thing I will praise are the performances. The cast is absolutely up to the task, even when the task isn’t at all pleasant. That’s another thing I can about the film: it’s a very pretty picture of some very horrible things.
Frank is a classic anti-hero. There isn’t any reason why we should be rooting for him to succeed, yet Milo is clearly the villain. We want to see Frank succeed, or at least get away. Even as he starts to get more and more desperate, one can almost understand what drives him to the lengths to which he goes, even as you’re practically screaming at him to go to the police.
Rounding out the cast is Agyness Deyn who plays Flo, an exotic dancer/drug addict with a large soft spot for Frank. It’s never made exactly clear why Frank continually turns down her advances, but her desperation and his despondency don’t make for an ideal match, yet again you find yourself hoping that the two crazy kids can make it work.
The story is told over the space of one insane week when Frank’s life goes from one big party to one big mess. I suppose I wanted more resolution, but I think I shouldn’t have expected it. Not from this sort of film.
And I don’t exactly know what this film was supposed to make me feel. I really just walked away with one message. Just say no. And I didn’t really need a film to tell me that; Nancy Regan got that through my head a long time ago.
Pusher opens in limited release on Friday, October 26th.
