First, the venue itself was not a movie theater. It's a 2800-seat concert hall and was not set up properly for a film. There was a great deal of echo, and the bass of the soundtrack and dialogue often canceled each other out.

To add to that, the sound mix on the film itself left a lot to be desired. I love music and great soundtracks as much if not more than most people, but it was so loud at times that the audience couldn't hear much dialogue at all. I don't know if it was just because of the venue acoustics or the film's sound mix itself or both, but there were entire segments of the film where the dialogue was completely drowned out by the soundtrack.

Finally, when one could hear the dialogue, the accents were so thick and heavy that it was extremely difficult to understand. Between the acoustics, the sound mix, the dialects, and the slang I could barely make out about a third of the dialogue. For approximately the first hour I couldn't follow one complete conversation, combining the three elements I just mentioned. Now, I attend many films and have seen plenty of movies with thick Irish accents but this one went far beyond any I've seen. Subtitles are definitely needed.

Certainly I'm not alone in my opinions. Variety's review is only 475 words and almost half is about the plot itself -- a bit too much, in my opinion. Only about 250 words make up the actual review of the film. I'm not used to reviewing reviews, but I generally dislike Variety's because they usually reveal too much. That said, although this one has a few spoilers, as usual, it may help in this case since the film is so confusing at first. Some audience members near me went through most of the film not knowing who was on which side, and the review does point that out. They also do acknowledge the language challenges.

The ScreenDaily review devotes even less time to talking about the film and more about the plot. But they also comment on the heavy use of music. I do agree with both reviews, though, for the most part.

I don't know how many people walked out but in my section there were dozens. I've also been told that a reporter for Entertainment Weekly left the hall (for the reasons I mentioned). Fifty Dead Men Walking Out seems more appropriate. I've never walked out on a film, ever. I've seen over 500 films just since the start of 2006 at about 30 festivals, and have seen some pretty bad ones, but this was the first time I wanted to leave. I resisted the urge, though, and am glad I did because the exciting second hour of the film was definitely worth waiting for, and the action becomes more important than the dialogue at that point anyway.

I'm fairly certain Fifty Dead Men Walking will find a US distributor if it hasn't already. Sources close to the film told me that a deal may be announced soon. It definitely deserves a wide release but only if it's subtitled. Otherwise I cannot recommend seeing it except for diehard fans of the cast members, those who know the story well, or those who have the ability to understand the thickest Irish accents.

I just wish I could have understood more of it. Between the physical setup of the venue, the mix on the film itself, and the dialect, it was quite hard to understand most of the dialogue. Hopefully I'll be able to see it again and give it a positive review but, for now, I simply cannot write about this film properly because I just missed too much to judge it fairly. As much as I love the body of work of these actors, unfortunately, I could not select it as one of my Top Picks from the festival. I might have if I could hear what they were saying.