Shadowboxer

Movie has its flaws like the blonde wig that lasts for years and then disappears without comment but I have to admit that generally the movie was well crafted. It moves at a clip that supports its gory and odd characters. Some of the pairings are fabulous .. are there really people walking among us that are like that? I prefer to believe they only exist in screenwriters minds. Mirren is her usual superb self and Gooding shows he really can act. The question is were they in love or was he simply controlled by her. I did not look forward to a nude scene with a woman her age but it was handled extremely well. Also the music choices were excellent. I haven't seen any comments about that aspect of the film.

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.

** out of ****

For those confused about the summary, let me explain. This is a high quality film. Only talented people could have possibly made this movie. It has good actors, a pretty neat plot, some really creative set design, and some very effective moments and lines. But it is a film filled with some much excess, so many inconsistencies, and so many moments of implausible character choices and results that the overall tone of the film suffers from it.

the film is basically about a stepmother son assassin lover team who get involved with one of their victim's lives. They change her identity and move her out of the country. she has a baby and they help her raise it. Meanwhile, her really sleazy husband is tearing up his associates trying to find her and do whatever he needs to do. Add to the mess an interracial couple who are his only other contact and connection with his wife. it's just a matter of time before they become rats.

Oh, and while all of this is happening, the stepmother(Helen Mirren) has cancer of some sort, their victim appears to fall in love with her son(Cuba Gooding Jr.), the victim's son seems to have some sort of assassin thing going on, and the son wants to quit the killing lifestyle because he doesn't want to hurt anymore parents, i guess. It's really quite creepy.

In all honesty, it's a disgusting film. the violence is way too gratuitous. I actually almost shut it off at the beginning during a scene where a man was about to be impaled through the rectum with a pool cue. I also found all the sex to be distracting more then ever. I never mind sexuality in movies and actually prefer it to violence, but in this, all the sex scenes are so joyless and so graphic, almost violent.

Aside from these, the major flaw in the film is the fact that, despite all the character development, there wasn't a single likable character in the whole film. It's good for a recent Cuba Gooding Jr. film, and there were a couple of good suspense scenes, but it's too uneven.

Rated R for strong graphic violence and sexuality, nudity, language and some drug use.

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.

As another reviewer stated, this movie does break rules. But is that enough? And through all the rule-breaking, there still is a core/central storyline that does seem familiar, to say the least. OK so some people will/might be offended by the sexual nature of the movie and or maybe by the violence. Although the latter isn't quite as brutal as some other movie efforts, you might have seen. Why is this special then compared to those movies? The cast plays into that. Who would've imagined, Cuba Gooding Jr., Stephen Dorff and Helen Mirren (although only the latter is a real surprise here). A nice little movie, but apart from the obvious scenes that try to provoke a reaction (especially in America and the moral standards, that are implied by some), this isn't really a movie that I would call a classic! I thought it was OK, but it won't shake up your world ...