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Pusher (18)

Pusher (18)

Crime, Thriller

In London, a drug pusher's life spins out of control over the course of one week.

More information on this production is available at www.pusherthemovie.co.uk.

The critical consensus

Fans of the original will recognise this as a respectful cover version rather than an ambitious re-imagining, but it’s got style and energy.

***(*)(*)Hannah McGill, The List, 27/09/2012

Banking on exec-producer Refn’s name, this glossy dealer-in-debt remake gets plenty right but lacks the hard-hitting vibe of the cult original, or a fresh take on gangster-pic London.

***(*)(*)Carmen Gray, Total Film, 28/09/2012

The UK Pusher isn’t bad at all, and Coyle is so different to Kim Bodnia (a fit, stolid Danish Tom Sizemore lookalike) that he has the best shot of anyone at making the role his own, which he does.

***(*)(*)Siobhan Synnot, The Scotsman, 07/10/2012

Repetitive, silly and puerile, Prieto’s film is also wholly lacking any visual flair or originality; the reliance on cynical, time-worn genre clichés compounding the crippling ennui.

**(*)(*)(*)Chris Fyvie, The Skinny, 08/10/2012

Whether you’ve sampled the original or not, it’s dodgy gear.

**(*)(*)(*)Alistair Harkness, The Scotsman, 11/10/2012

It’s hard to care about him, and the milieu is very over-familiar, but the story grips towards the end.

**(*)(*)(*)Henry Fitzherbert, Daily Express, 11/07/2012

This one has a fair amount of flashy momentum, and decent work from Richard Coyle in the lead, but plausibility is a disaster area.

**(*)(*)(*)Tim Robey, The Telegraph, 11/10/2012

A tragic myth of our times, worth retelling and thrillingly retold.

****(*)Anton Bitel, Little White Lies, 11/10/2012

The Pusher remake may not have the full flavour of the original, but it makes brutally clear how the economics of drugs make paranoia and violence a fact of life.

***(*)(*)Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, 11/10/2012

Nail-biting and genuinely heartbreaking moments mean it’s emotionally involving, even if it isn’t the cheeriest drug dealer saga in town.

***(*)(*)Anna Smith, Empire Online, 12/10/2012

Prieto's remake has a certain brutal energy and pace, but it adds nothing in the way of depth to the Danish original.

**(*)(*)(*)Anthony Quinn, The Independent, 12/10/2012

Coyle's penchant for Hoovering cocaine and smacking his friends with baseball bats makes him hard to root for.

Nicholas Barber, The Independent on Sunday, 14/10/2012

It's well enough made, but the plot is overly familiar.

Philip French, The Observer, 14/10/2012


Features about Pusher (18)

Where and when?

General release. Check local listings for show times.

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