There have been several Scandinavian remakes in recent years, from Let the Right One In, to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, all pointless in my opinion. And here's another one, the English language "update" of the first Pusher film, directed by Luis Prieto and exec produced by Nicolas Winding Refn, Danish filmmaker who made his name with the original Pusher trilogy.
Something about this just didn't grab me, like a fake ecstasy tablet, it has the looks but not the desired effect. The plot is dead simple, and when it runs out of plot there's a hefty amount of drug-taking and violence to fill the time. I was bored by the end and wished I'd taken some chemical to keep me interested. A valiant effort by Richard Coyle in the lead role, but as things keep going pear-shaped for Frank, the unluckiest and most inept criminal in London, you don't feel much sympathy for him and just want to see him put out of his misery.
Paul Kaye appears briefly as one of Frank's customers, and Bronson Webb (Frank's sidekick Tony) provides a bit of humour to start with, but sadly all that quickly goes out of the window, and things turn darker and more violent. Drug lord Milo is the nicest baddie ever, highly entertaining thanks to the brilliant Croatian actor Zlatko Burić, who weirdly enough played him in the original film back in 1996. An odd casting decision but you can't argue with Burić's screen presence and charm.
As for Agyness Deyn, she is bland and distant, with the personality of a metal pole. Was she cast due to her "celebrity" status, instead of giving genuine acting talent a chance? Someone like Carey Mulligan for example, who added so much depth to Drive? Oh well. On the plus side the score by British electronic band Orbital is pretty good, but overall this is a mediocre crime thriller not worth bothering with. Have a couple of beers and rent the original instead!
UK release date: 12th October 2012
