Revenge thriller has a 'Dead' pulse

ATTEMPTS to impart a cool European tone to an American-style revenge saga pays slim dividends in the erratic "Dead Man Down."

It's the work of Niels Arden Oplev, director of the original "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," and he seems to be going for something like Nick Refn's critically acclaimed "Drive" - becalmed lead performances, a slow-burn narrative puncuated by spasms of outrageous violence, a thwarted romance in the middle of it.

"Dead Man" stars Colin Farrell as Victor, a vigilante binge killer who takes up with a strange woman named Beatrice (Noomi Rapace, the original "Tattoo" girl), one whose facial scars speak to a violent past, and whose exterior is a match for Farrell's damaged interior.

The two are tormented loners who live in neighboring high-rise apartments - kindred spirits, strangers who wave plaintively to each other through the evening haze. Oplev composes some handsome, bird's-eye shots that capture the two lonely figures and the empty space between (or he fooled me with some green-screen wizardry).

Rapace is moved by her mother (Isabelle Huppert) to meet her reclusive neighbor - they do, establishing a relationship that evolves in fitful, unpredictable ways.

Each has a score to settle, and they merge agendas - mostly, we follow Victor's mission to gain revenge on one of two slumlords - but which: the one played by Armand Assante, or the one by Terrence Howard?

The latter characters meet for a fateful lunch on Walnut Street - "Dead Man" uses a few locations in and around the city. As Victor, Farrell goes on a nice rampage inside 1616 Walnut.

The big bloody climax looks to occur, as does much of the movie, in New York City. By that point, you're either hooked on the Farrell/Rapace chemistry, or not.

Likely, not. It's a tough sell. Farrell, who was so lively and so good in "Seven Psychpaths," is measured to the point of sedation, and his rapport with Rapace is minimal.