Very well executed

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Having seen most of Nicolas Winding Refn's recent work, it was kind of awkward going back to his debut feature film. While it does show flashes of brilliance, hints of what Refn's style would develop into, for the most part it's your typical "mid-level drug dealer gets in over his head" film that has been many times before (and better). PUSHER follows Frank, a Danish drug dealer who is about to make this huge deal with some Swedes. However, at the moment the deal is about to go down, the cops show up and he has to dump the dope in the river. This puts him in some serious debt to Milo, a Serbian drug lord, and the rest of the film is Frank trying to get the money to pay him back. Before watching this, I did scope a few reviews just to see what kind of film I was getting into, and one comparison I saw a few times was with MEAN STREETS. While I can see the surface similarities, ultimately PUSHER doesn't have as many likable characters and feels more amateurish. Since I don't speak Danish, I can't really say whether the acting was good for sure, but it didn't seem too bad. The production values were also pretty good for a low-budget indie film. Even the script and dialogue weren't too bad. My favorite parts were in the first 20-30 minutes when Frank and his best friend, Tonny (Mads Mikkelsen), share some Tarantino-esque exchanges about whatever was on their minds at the time. However, once the plot kicks in, whatever sense of fun the film had before was all but gone. I don't mind gritty realism, and the cinema verite style in which the film is shot was handled quite well, but I never connected with the story all that much. It also didn't help that Frank was such an unlikeable prick. For my money, Tonny was the most interesting character, but he's not in the film for too long. Fortunately I am aware that Tonny is the focus of the the sequel, so it has that much going for it. Ultimately, PUSHER is a well-made film that shows some of the talent that Refn would later put to great use, but the story has been done many times before, and better.

I am danish and I do not like this movie, well and that goes for most movies by Nikolas Refn winding.The lead character is boring. The dialog is often painfully constructed and knowing drug dealers in Copenhagen at that time in the 90' I can say they did not speak like that at all! The movie has its funny moments I most give it that but the story in general is just one stupid and not realistic moment after the other.How this movie got its fame is beyond my understanding What to fill out for the last line?? THere are thousands of better movies to watch so skip this one.Skip most of Nikolas Refn Windings movies they are overrated! SKip danish movies in general

Forget all the crappy glossy American gangster films like The Godfather, Pusher is much more real to life and brutal.I saw Pusher in 2004 on DVD after I was highly impressed with Bleeder, another of Refn's masterpieces.Pusher follows Frank, a drug dealer who gets in a spot of bother with Milo, a drug kingpin, when Frank accidentally loses/has to get rid of a stash of Heroin bought on credit from Milo (who he already owes money too) after the cops chase after him through the street.He then has a short amount of time to recover the financial and moral loss to Milo otherwise he's in the $hit, his life being at stake.A fantastically acted film with a 100$ fluid plot that really does keep you intrigued, that's what I love about Refn. The whole film oozes with originality, pace and substanceA brilliant Danish film, from a British reviewer.

The life of a mid-level, Danish drug pusher falls apart over the course of a week.It's nowhere near as good as its main influence, Mean Streets. For example, it lacks Scorsese's touch with a good sound-track - generally there's nothing in the Pusher other than normal background sounds and what music there is is what's playing on the radio. That's not to say that this isn't a good film in its own right, however.The characters are generally convincing and well-rounded and, like Scorsese's movie, Pusher gives you the illusion that you understand what it would be like to live the life of these low-level criminals. Lots of hanging around in cars and sleazy bars. None of the characters are particularly sympathetic but as things go from bad two worse fro Frank, the main character, you begin to share his stress.Some fairly graphic violence, but surprisingly little drug taking and no sex.