Jim Sturgess Fan

Variety has a positive review of the movie Fifty Dead Men Walking. I really couldn’t wait to see this movie! Here’s what they say:

Packing a high-caliber performance by Jim Sturgess and enough thrills to start a theme park, “Fifty Dead Men Walking” is a classic about the Irish “troubles.” Despite the unavoidably convoluted facts of the real-life story, pic boasts plausibly written, solidly acted characters and a conflict that pushes the viewer’s righteous-indignation buttons, and as such could become a crossover hit.
Skogland has done the right thing in making “Fifty Dead Men Walking” a movie about characters, and character: Thanks to Sturgess, the viewer feels deep sympathy with a character whose clandestine activities are looked upon by his closest community as satanic. Martin is an amorphous entity but a fascinating one, portrayed with just the right doses of cockiness and desperation.

And another review from Screendaily

It was only in the aftermath of the Vietnam War that filmmakers were able to create a substantial body of work reflecting the complexities of what had happened there. The same is proving to be true of the recent “Troubles” that tore Northern Ireland apart for the best part of forty years. This year has already seen Steve McQueen’s triumphant debut Hunger. Now, Canadian director Kari Skogland brings her eye to bear on the heat of the conflict with a slick thriller that plays like Scorsese lite. A confident production, it has the dynamism and commercial instincts to connect with a mainstream audience and can only benefit from the rising profile of 21 star Jim Sturgess.
Fifty Dead Men works best as a conventional but politically charged thriller. A heavy-handed use of music and a fondness for burnished visuals tends to over-egg the film, making it feel glossy rather than gritty.
Sturgess once again confirms his ability to carry a film with a performance that is just as commanding but very different from his most notable roles in Across The Universe and 21. Kevin Zegers is virtually unrecognisable and sports an entirely convincing Irish accent as his closest friend and die-hard IRA supporter. Only Ben Kingsley seems miscast as British handler Fergus, although he does invest the character with a dry humour.