In his swaggering party-boy period Colin Farrell played leads in glossy, well-funded mainstream films from ’03 to ’06 (Daredevil, Phone Booth, The Recruit, S.W.A.T., Alexander, the intelligent and historically atmospheric Terrence Malick flick The New World and Michael Mann‘s fumey, aromatic Miami Vice). Then he checked into rehab in December 2005 and switched to character roles in smaller, smarter, indie-ish films (Ask the Dust, Cassandra’s Dream, Pride and Glory, In Bruges, Ondine, Triage, Crazy Heart, The Way Back).

And then in ’10 Farrell changed course again and started doing violence-flavored material (London Boulevard, Horrible Bosses, Fright Night, Total Recall, Dead Man Down, Winter’s Tale along with the semi-violent satiric-attitude flick Seven Psychopaths).

One glance at the trailer for Dead Man Down (Film District, 3.8) tells you Farrell needs to get fawkin’ back to smarter, cooler films, yeah? Because the newbie looks like dogshit. Farrell’s most recently completed gig was playing a supporting role in John Lee Hancock‘s Savings Mr. Banks, which costars Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson.