Agyness Deyn and Richard Coyle in PUSHER (Radius TWC)

Frank (Richard Coyle) is too thoughtful, and maybe too fallible, to be a drug dealing criminal. He has a seemingly good deal with Russian mobster Milo (Zlatko Buric), who gives Frank a kilo of coke under the proviso that he comes right back with 45 grand. Frank thinks it’s a sure thing, but then a bust happens and he’s thrown in jail. His dilemma: rat out the big guy or go back on the streets.

Of course, the answer for anyone who knows these kinds of crime-doesn’t-goddamn-pay movies (or seen the original Nicolas Winding Refn 1996 film, his debut), is that Frank will do the “right” thing, which also means doing the sort of dumb/fatalistic thing: to try to cobble together Milo’s money, or as much of it as he can. (Milo now demands 55 grand from Frank for “Giving me a bulls*** story!”) The desperation mounts as Frank has a ticking clock of sorts: when Milo’s man comes around to break his knees, or worse.

It helps that Coyle has a strong presence on screen, with a tough but not overpowering demeanor that gives the audience something to connect to amid this world of strippers, druggies, and low-lifes, but I couldn’t help but think that Frank wasn’t smart enough. This isn’t exactly a mark against the movie… but then again, maybe it is. It’s also so faithful to the original film that the only main difference is in style. Director Luis Prieto shoots with more visual variety and editing tricks while Refn was all about a hand-held, cinema verité.

I think I was with Frank for most of the second act, even into the third as he has to make a decision since, as you know, the money won’t ALL be there at the end of the day, no matter who he seeks or robs or threatens. But there comes a point where you want to yell at the screen: do something else! Leave, I dunno. The movie also feels a little stuck in the mid-’90s, quasi-Tarantino mode of a crime thriller, with some hip/knowing dialog (Frank has a friend, a fast-talking puppy of a man), and some sex appeal (the closest thing to a love interest is sometimes-stripper-mostly-junkie Flo, played skillfully by Agyness Deyn).

Maybe most curious of all, and something I looked forward to, was seeing Zlatko Buric reprise his role as Milo from the original. (Hey, if you got a big burly bear of a Russian/Eastern European in one film series, why not in another?) He is always convincing, especially as he tries to be jolly when he’s actually absolutely furious. The only issue for me, though it won’t be for most, is that Buric was in the entire original Pusher trilogy made by Refn, which included a third film, Pusher III: I’m the Angel of Death, in which Buric starred all on his own. I don’t know if the filmmakers want to continue on with remakes of the other two films. Frankly, it’d be even more interesting to take Milo in another direction altogether.