Shadowboxer

I just saw this film in the directors cut version on Friday night. I have to say I really enjoyed it. Lee Daniels was at the screening and it was a screening for the investors so nobody was going to pull punches because they had money involved. It took a little while to get into the plot but I was totally sucked in after a while. It will supposedly be released in December and hopefully won't be cut down too much. There were some sex scenes that will probably go because some people in this country can't handle it, but nothing that I felt was gratuitous or just sex for the sake of showing some nudity. Some may also find the violence objectionable but nothing close to SinCity or any war movie ever made. I hope the film does well and the public enjoys it. Who cares what the industry has to say. They promote absolute garbage with a full wallet all the time. Check this one out and form an opinion for yourself.

I saw this film last night and find myself returning to it quite a bit. This is always refreshing since so many movies fly out of your mind the moment the credits roll. I've always loved Helen Mirren since her Prime Suspect series and found her terrific as always. Cuba Gooding was the surprise. I have a new found respect for him as this role was complex and he pulled it off. I really enjoyed their relationship as lovers with a complicated history. It was refreshing and authentic. Stephen Dorff is good at playing bad and he doesn't disappoint here. Macy Gray played a similar role in Training Day and is very good. I didn't really buy Mo'nique - her performance felt contrived. The doctor, her lover was just too pretty, young and sweet and felt miscast. This movie is sooo worth seeing. It's dark, rich & leaves an impression.

Shadowboxer Mr. Black's Grade: B Starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Helen Mirren.

First-time director Lee Daniels, producer of two challenging projects, Monster's Ball and The Woodsman tries his hand behind the lens. Mirren plays a female assassin who is diagnosed with cancer, and decides to carry out a final killing assisted by Gooding.

Shadowboxer certainly is a dark film - think Prizzi's Honor but with a very different tone - but Helen Mirren handles this 'unique' relationship with tenderness and dignity. I thought the ending wasn't terribly suspenseful, and it should have been. I kept trying picture how a different, and more experienced director would handle it. A number of crew members were there for the Q/A, including the director. Heck, even a PA came in from Philly (you keener!) Wes Bentley was scheduled to co-star but dropped out.

His role was filled by Cuba Gooding Jr., who succeeded in erasing Snow Dogs from my memory. He is very good here, playing it straight and very cold. In the Q/A afterwards he talked about the differences between doing comedy and drama. He said that he is pursuing roles that allow humor to come from the actions of the character - like in this film - and not obvious comedy. He enjoyed the laughter that his character got from the crowd at the screening, when his character was reacting to situations within the plot and not 'trying' to be funny.

Okay, this isn't a review but I couldn't put this under goofs...and it's been bugging me.

In the scene where Clayton's lawyer (?) is in a hallway arguing with a woman wanting money, she says, "Define 'soon,'" and the lawyer says it's a noun. That is grammatically incorrect. "Soon," is an adverb. Phew. Glad I finally got that off my chest.

Oh, and I felt the movie was mediocre at best. Even the great Helen Mirren couldn't save it.

The bad: Helen Mirren is miscast. Gotta see it for yourself that she is definitely not the right actress for this role, however good she might be, that is besides the point.

This movie starts out okayish, but gradually gets more stupid along the way. One of those movies I get fooled into thinking it must be worth SOMETHING based on the actors starring in it. BUT it is NOT.

This director has made really excellent movies in the past and future, but this unfortunately is a FLOP.