| |
 |  | Get Showtimes... |
Review #210 of 365
Film: Shadowboxer (2006) [R] 93 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $8.00
Where Viewed: Colorado Cinemas Cherry Creek 8, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 9 August 2006
Time: 7:20 p.m.
 |
DVD |
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
Hmm…I have now tried five different ways of starting off this review, and each one has sounded more sarcastic than the previous one. You see, it's very difficult to write a review for Shadowboxer which casts the acting talents of Academy Award®-nominees Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding, Jr. in the roles of step-mother / step-son hired killers who apparently because step-mom shot physically abusive father feels it's ok to eventually develop a 40-year intimate relationship with step-son. Yeah. I'm not making this up. Writer William Lipz stirred up the sandy bottom of a creek that feeds the river Hades and netted some of the most psychologically desperate characters ever commingled in a single film. Well, on top of Rose (Mirren) and Mikey (Gooding, Jr.) there's Clayton (Stephen Dorff), an evil hood who's made his millions in drugs, keeps a zebra at his mansion, but never gets nabbed because he just pays to kill of any of his enemies, his wife, Vickie (Vanessa Ferlito), whom he 'rescues' from a mentally abusive father by pistol whipping him in a bar when she's 16, and Don (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a corrupt doctor who makes his living performing medical services for any underworld figures that want to stay out of the eye of public hospitals who maintains a drug-addicted nurse called Precious who eventually turns everyone's world upside down when she finds Don messing around with a patient in one of his semi-legitimate examination rooms. Rose and Mikey's world collide with Clayton's and Vickie's when Mickey picks up the envelope for what Rose feels will be her last 'job' and finds it contains Clayton's instructions to assassinate a very pregnant Vickie.
"Writer William Lipz stirred up the sandy bottom of a creek that feeds the river Hades and netted some of the most psychologically desperate characters ever commingled in a single film. I cannot recommend this film. There's just not a lot to get out of it."
Despite a thoroughly well-executed plan, Rose ultimately finds herself unable to pull the trigger on Vickie and the baby. The shock of the attempted assassination, however, puts Vickie into spontaneous labor. Fortunately, Rose is a skilled mid-wife and delivers the baby, later checked out and found in perfect health by Dr. Don. This, of course, puts Mikey and Rose in a precarious position, especially if Mikey is to take over the business full-time. The plan hatched by Rose for whom Mikey and Don will do absolutely anything she says to do will be that Mikey and Rose will take in Vickie and the baby as part of their own family, change their identities, and protect them, forever. That way, Clayton will never be the wiser, never know his wife and son survived, and Mikey can continue business as usual to keep the extended family alive. I've already given clues as to what makes this whole plan come crashing down. Not right away, it takes a few years. But when it goes down, it's not pretty, there's tons of bloodshed, but ultimately a 'happy' ending.
Director Lee Daniels has created a film with a surreal feeling from beginning to end. Between the love-making scenes of Rose and Mikey, the completely-detached-from-reality forlorn looks of Vickie, the brutal scenes enemies and allies alike face in encounters with Clayton, and the long panoramic shots of the cityscape, one gets the sense that he or she should be getting more out of this than there is at face value. The degree of art and talent is too high for this to be such an empty affair devoid of real visible emotions and feelings. Actually, that's a bit unfair. It's not so much that the characters are devoid of emotions and feelings it's just that the lives they all live are so cold and merciless as to make one wonder how the manage to have any feelings at all. Maybe they don't really. This could account for the blank, cold, steely stares which adorn their faces most of the time. It's no wonder then that I cannot recommend this film. There's just not a lot to get out of it.
Director Lee Daniels has created a film with a surreal feeling from beginning to end. Between the love-making scenes of Rose and Mikey, the completely-detached-from-reality forlorn looks of Vickie, the brutal scenes enemies and allies alike face in encounters with Clayton, and the long panoramic shots of the cityscape, one gets the sense that he or she should be getting more out of this than there is at face value. The degree of art and talent is too high for this to be such an empty affair devoid of real visible emotions and feelings. Actually, that's a bit unfair. It's not so much that the characters are devoid of emotions and feelings it's just that the lives they all live are so cold and merciless as to make one wonder how the manage to have any feelings at all. Maybe they don't really. This could account for the blank, cold, steely stares which adorn their faces most of the time. It's no wonder then that I cannot recommend this film. There's just not a lot to get out of it.
Back to Top | W.I.P. Scale™ | Most Recently Reviewed Films | Films of 2005 | Films of 2006
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Shadowboxer [DVD] (2005)
Projects Featuring:
Helen Mirren
• Cuba Gooding Jr.• Stephen DorffVanessa Ferlito
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt| VHS | DVD |
Shadowboxer Review-lite [150-word cap]
Director Lee Daniels's Shadowboxer casts the acting talents of Academy Award®-nominees Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding, Jr. in the roles of step-mother / step-son hired killers who later develop a 40-year intimate relationship--I'm not making this up. A film with a surreal feeling from beginning to end, writer William Lipz stirred up the sandy bottom of a creek that feeds the river Hades and netted some of the most psychologically desperate characters ever commingled in a single film. On their final 'job' Rose gets a conscience and aborts the assassination of a drug lord's pregnant wife deciding instead to take her into their protective care. This all goes fine until, years later, a scorned, drug-abusing nurse lets the drug lord know his family is still alive and turns everyone's world upside down. Check your ability to feel at the front door, you won't need it to endure this film.
No comments:
Post a Comment