Steel Toes (2007)

the audience applauded

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

This was an 8/10 until the final 20 minutes. Then it got very, very stupid.I suggest you watch it. It is worth watching, but ugh, the end blows hard. It progresses from an insightful, touching movie to...ugh.Watch it. You'll see.

This movie is very cleverly done, phenomenal dialogs and fantastic acting make this film a real masterpiece. It's about soul of a young man that has been lost in Nazi ideology and Jewish lawyer who will rise above the hate and try to help him. After just one viewing you will not see the true intentions of some sentences, but in the end it will all make sense...I read somewhere that this film should be shown in schools and I think that's a really good idea because it carries the message that is absolutely correct and can affect young people not to go the wrong path. Here, you will not find expensive movie effects but you will see the true human emotions...

The movie is fairly well acted and produced, however the movie lacks originality, warmth, and anything that would make the tale necessary to tell.Forgiveness is the primary theme, but never fully explored. The interesting plot points, such as the Lawyer's family shunning him for defending the skinhead, are left unfinished.The ending leaves you feeling downhearted rather than uplifted. The skinhead's change of heart is hard to take seriously.The character's motivations needed to be explored more. This seems like an empty "After School Special."

STEEL TOES is yet another low budget, independent film that unfortunately will not find the large audience it so justly deserves except by word of mouth publicity. It is available now as a DVD, complete with significant extra features, and is one of the more powerful statements about hate crimes, understanding intolerance, and the journey toward compassion this viewer has seen. It is adapted from the original play by its author, David Gow, and benefits from the fact that David Strathairn, who created the role on stage in Philadelphia, and repeats his performance on screen, subtly embodies the lead character Danny Dunkelman.The title, STEEL TOES, is derived from the name of the combat boots worn by Skinheads, the band of racially intolerant men who strive to re-enact the tenets of Nazi theories. The film opens in Montreal with a group of these warriors, led by Mike (Andrew Walker in a career-making performance) who gruesomely kicks an Indian man repeatedly for no apparent reason except racial hatred. Mike is arrested, placed in prison, and faces a charge of homicide when the hospitalized Indian man dies of his wounds. Danny Dunkelman is the court appointed lawyer assigned to defend Mike. Danny is Jewish and acknowledges a loathing for Skinheads and it is the confrontation between Danny and Mike that polarizes the story between two men who innately hate the symbol each stands for. Danny is a committed humanist and tries to overcome his prejudice by carefully preparing Mike for hi courtroom appearance. Likewise, Mike for the first time begins to gain insight into the misguided life he has chosen, finding Danny a man whose compassion shows through his belief system and is the only chance Mike has for avoiding a long prison term for manslaughter. One key and poignant aspect of the case is the document the Indian man made before he died, a statement of his loss of sight, ability to walk or sit resulting form the brutal beating he received from Mike, and yet it is a call for compassion and forgiveness he makes just before he dies. Danny repeatedly makes Mike read this document until a change occurs - a climax in a story and in a relationship that is one of the more significantly powerful ever filmed.This is essentially a two-character story, though in making it cinematically fleshed out some additional characters are added. But the impact of the story comes shining through the economy of the prison cell set and from the impeccable performances by both Strathairn and Walker. It is a brilliant work of writing, acting, directing, filming and sound that bespeaks the strongest aspects of committed ensemble work. It is quite frankly a film everyone who cares about the future of humanity should see. If there is any justice in the industry it will not be overlooked at Oscar time. Highly recommended. Grady Harp