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Inspired by the true-life story of Martin McGartland Fifty Dead Men Walking tells a dangerous and thrilling story. McGartland is recruited by British intelligence to infiltrate the IRA in the hopes of saving lives. He saves approximately fifty lives (hence the title) through his double-life as a volunteer member of the IRA and an informer for the British government. His cover is eventually blown and his life hangs in the balance.

It is an unfortunate coincidence that this film is released at a time when the unrest of old threatens to once again engulf Northern Ireland. The old story of the IRA and unionist struggle is one that may have been forgotten by the rest of the world in the light of the 'war on terror', but this film opens old wounds and at times is uncomfortable viewing.

The film is set in many famous locations around Northern Ireland; County Down and County Antrim most recognisable from the heavy military presence and the wall separating the communities. Scenes of explosion aftermath and conflict with less than impartial soldiers are frequent as 'Marty' lives his life wheeling and dealing in the community. This is a word (community) that is referred to frequently throughout the film; this sense of where you belong and who you belong too, a concept both comforting and deadly depending on your side of the wall.

This film is thought-provoking and forces you to think back to a time when terrorism was an accepted and expected part of life for British and Northern Irish residents. Marty believes that leading his duplicitous life 'saves lives' and for a while it does, and yet he seems to grow above his role he doesn't seem to realise that he is simply a pawn in the 'dirty war' that is taking place on his home turf.

The characters are what one would expect, both gritty and harsh, perhaps slightly stereotypical. Marty's relationship with his fellow-volunteers and commanding 'officers' is not explored as deeply as his relationship with Lara, the mother of his son. This is something that is missing from the overall polemic of the film, as we do not get a sense of Marty's betrayal. We only see his blossoming friendship with Fergus which does end up saving his life, but we miss any sense of his own guilt at betraying the men who believe he is also fighting with them for the freedom of Ireland.

Something else that is missing from the heart of the film is an explanation for why McGartland turns informer. We don't ever really find out what the pivotal catalyst was for his turning against his background, roots and community. This makes it difficult to believe or understand the central relationship of the film between himself and Fergus.

Kingley's role as Fergus is a strange one. He plays the British governent missive as a man hell-bent on 'saving lives' but ultimately because he has nothing else to do. His burning passion for stopping the IRA is not believable, he has no close family and no hidden hurt related to the violence and sometimes delivers the strangest lines that don't fit in with the intensity of the situation he is embroiled in. It appears to all be 'part of the job', which perhaps is the intention but in a film that has taken full advantage of the 'poetic license' available, a little reworking of Fergus' character and motivation would not have gone amiss.

McGartland is played well by Sturgess. Very convincing accent and he throws himself into the role wholeheartedly. We sympathise with his McGartland who is living this double-life and the sacrifices he ultimately has to make whilst doing so. Once again though we are not completely filled in on why he takes this drastic step in the first place. Judging from the amount of money moving between him and Fergus a more cynical mind would have money as the catalyst behind his decisions.

Ironically, the real-life McGartland has distanced himself from the film and even tried to block its release. His claims are that a number of the accounts in the film are purely fictitious and that the IRA are portrayed in a far too favourable light. This is always the problem with films inspired by true-life accounts being shown on the big screen. The number of little 'embellishments' producers need to add tothe mix in order to keep an audience duly entertained often turn the 'true-life' into 'wouldn't it be great if this was true-life'.

As a piece of entertainment Fifty Dead Mean Walking is good, maybe even very good. It is a thrilling and dangerous journey from start to end with scenes of torture and explosions thrown in for good effect. However one would need to be very careful before taking this film as some kind of authentic exploration into the troubles of Northern Ireland. Every soldier has a British accent, every politician has a British accent which could lead an unfamiliar audience into believing that there was no Protestant Irish majority in Northern Ireland at the time. The two sides are seen to be as bad as each other which to my mind is an over-simplification of a harrowing and bloody period in both British and Irish history.