In the Shadows

Really enjoying director Ric Roman Waugh's 'Shot Caller' made me look into his back catalog and with it's cast 'In the Shadows' certainly stood out. I read some spoiler free reviews and tried to keep an open mind. Can't deny there was some parts I really enjoyed, but also can't escape the plot felt too large in scope and unable to bring it all together at the end in a real solid satisfying manner.

Jimmy (Lillo Brancato Jr.) son of a revered NYC mobster does stunt work on the side for movies shot in Miami. When he's down there to do both a mob deal, stunts the latter goes wrong and he's killed. Mob boss wants vengeance and blames the highly skilled stuntman turned stunt coordinator Lance (James Caan) who he wants dead. Now Eric (Matthew Modine) not only a trusted hitman, but friend of Jimmy gets the job. However once he's down there awaiting a green light to do the hit, he falls in love with Lance's daughter Clarissa (Joey Lauren Adams). Then gains a taste for stunt work himself and a mentor in her father.

Modine with slick looking but obvious dyed hair is able to navigate the emotional arch the role requires. Caan steals the screen in scenes (his effortless charm) and Adam's role really pulls at your heartstrings as a pediatrician doctor looking after children dying due to cancer. Brancato who delivered nicely in 'A Bronx Tale' & 'Sopranos' has a very small role much like Cuba Gooding Jr largely involving side-plots that honestly aren't that interesting and only clutter up the story.

'Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood' & 'The Fall Guy' very recently has brought in a new wave of films focusing on stuntmen and either lightly or heavily basing it on their work. Of course 'The Stunt Man' in the 80's bears mention too. Maybe if 'In the Shadows' was more about that and it's likable characters it could have been better. Dangling plot threads about the mob are not just cliche, but also very boring. Of course a bum ending doesn't help too.

"In The Shadows" tells of a hitman with a conscience (Modine) who becomes a stuntman because this dumdass flick wouldn't work if he didn't. Ill-conceived, sophomorically contrived, poorly written, and poorly directed, this flick is long of atmospherics and short on everything else. One can only watch and wonder how Caan, Adams, Modine, and Gooding climbed aboard such a shabby project. A waste of time for all but diehard fans of the principals and maybe people with some interest in film stunts. (D+)

On the whole, I thought "In the Shadows" wasn't all that bad. There were times when the dramatics were a little overdone and the short part that Cuba played as a bad-ass international drug smuggler was really NOT believable. Poor casting there folks.

James Caan, on the other hand, was quite easy to see as an aging stunt guru. I have always liked watching Caan in a cool, collected, everyday-guy-in-extrordinary-circumstances type of role. He truly shone in this film.

Joey Lauren Adams was the one predictable dissapointment. C'mon, a Pediatric Oncologist? Not with her language skills.

Overall, I felt it to be a good story. I can't figgure out why everybody else has panned it in their ratings. Sure it's not blockbusting break the bank material....but it was better than the 4.3/10 the rest of you folks gave it.

My call: 7/10

No ensemble or great individual actors; a horrible screenplay, and a cliched premise...put them together and you don't even have a half of a B movie.

For anyone over 18, this is like a trip to the dentist.

Grade it as an F.

In the aftermath of undercover agent Cuba Gooding Jr. Being killed, hit man Matthew Modine is sent to kill stunt man James Caan. Before he can do so, he falls in love with Caan's daughter, Joey Lauren Adams, and decides he wants to quit his life and become a stunt man.

It's a pleasure watching Caan being in the moment every second he is on the screen. Unfortunately, between the murky plot, Modine's failed attempt to act Caan off the screen, and the camera crew not being able to shoot Miss Adams to advantage, I was not impressed. There's a big shoot-out in a parking garage at the end for those who enjoy such things.