William Vincent

I give this a solid 7 out of 10 due to the fact that it was, in my eyes, a very original film full of emotion and body-language.

A must see art film.

James Franco shines in this subtle film that puts you through different moral standing that will make you ask, "why would he do that?", just as the characters in the story are asking Franco's character. Shot with a "real-world" aspect this plot lays in front of you waiting to be uncovered just as the end will lay in your thoughts.

If you have ever felt out of place or different in this crazy world take a look through this genuine character's eyes.

OK this movie is SO slow, if you are making a noir, you must demand excellent writing and story, not some mash up half-done gangster plot. A mopey Franco , a lot of meaningless blank stares. don't attempt things with this bad effort. "you sound like you're in a movie" was used twice, Really? I thought Lucas was a good villain, and martin Donovan held there own, but the leads had no real chemistry. Franco wasn't pulling his weight, although not totally his fault given the substandard script.

If you're into a lot of good camera shots over accordion music with odd fragmented cutaways that lend little to pushing the story forward than the movie is for you.

Disappointment.

Great casting, no story for a long piece. Really long, tried to be something more, but the length was overwhelming. Fell asleep for 15 min and didn't lose anything as I continued to watch..... Could have been made into short film, a much shorter film. Franco brooding, sans dialogs pieces, didn't go.he does this well. Looking pasty and attractive..

The music at points was obtrusive and disgracing. Visually it was pretty to watch, the coloring, beautiful exterior shots, but not for this long.The movie left me with nothing....

This is a movie that is beautiful with photography and that is the only positive thing I can say about it.

This film could have been great with the cast it has. James Franco does a great job of the brooding, James Dean like character. Josh Lucas as the dark, controlling bad guy is very good. Freckled Julianne Nelson is beautiful as the femme fatale, but the director seems to be attempting to imitate a good french movie but just fails.

If you like minutes long scenes of an actor's face, a room, an actor walking, you might enjoy this film. If it was condensed to a half hour drama, it might be great. Otherwise, it is not worth the time.

'SHADOWS & LIES': Two Stars (Out of Five)

James Franco stars in this unbelievably slow and uneventful artsy indie film about a man trying to free the woman he thinks he loves from a New York City organized crime syndicate. It's written and directed by Jay Anania who was one of Franco's teachers at New York University. The film also features Josh Lucas, Martin Donovan and Julianne Nicholson. It's the perfect example of too much style over substance.

In the movie Franco plays a small time crook named William Vincent who picks people's pockets and often throws it away. He draws the attention of a local New York City drug runner (Lucas) who is impressed by his skills and apparent lack of humanity. He offers William a job and then a night with his woman, Ann (Julianne Nicholson). William falls for Ann, even though he knows nothing about her, and this of course causes complications with his new employer.

The movie is extremely slow paced and very moody. There's very little dialogue and the film is instead content with just giving the viewer long camera shots of the actor's blank faces (mostly Franco). If you're a big fan of Franco and into his looks this might be enough for you but most others will be extremely bored. The directing is kind of cool, the cinematography is beautiful and the music striking but the screenplay is so poorly written. Nothing much ever happens, we learn almost nothing about any of the characters and as a result the film seems very pointless. It starts promising, it's beautiful to look at and it's nice to see Franco taking some different projects but he's not given anything really to work with here. The movie is almost a total waste of time with nothing to offer anyone except some nice photography and some long mug shots for die-hard fans of prettyboy Franco.

Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nse6Wm1EtZU