Shiner

`Shiner' was OK. It was a very uneven movie and suffered from an uninspired script. Michael Caine was good in his role and did the best he could with a weak script. The story was simple enough but was stretched out too thin. The ending with the surprise villain was too deus ex machinaish for me. Frank Harper was good as Stoney and Martin Landau played his part well. Some of the accents were a bit hard to understand but that added to the appeal for me, more of an atmosphere thing. An OK movie if you like Cockney gangster flics. It was violent and had lots of cursing but that's typical for these movies. "The Long Good Friday" and "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" are two better representations of the genre.

Great film! I can't believe how underrated SHINER is. I fell in love with this movie. Michael Caine's performance is Oscar-caliber. Caine plays a sleazy, selfish, money-loving boxing promoter who gets caught in a twisted game of revenge which ultimately leads to a tragic, unforgettable ending. All the actors were superb in their rolls and the fast paced plot keeps you constantly at the edge of your seat. SHINER has great acting, good directing, and wonderful dialogue. The film is full of suspense, action, strong emotion, and even humorous wit at certain parts. I've seen SHINER three times and I haven't tired of it yet. I've shown it to two of my friends, each of whom agrees completely on what a truly amazing movie this is. You don't have to be a Michael Caine fan to enjoy SHINER. *****/*****!

Also features some great cockney accents.

Not much of a boxing movie, so if your interest is in the sport you are sure to be disappointed. Character development is spotty, especially with Michael Caine's children. Caine's two henchmen come across well, and Michael Caine gives an impressive and believable performance. Martin Landau is mostly wasted in the background. What is intriguing is Caine's rapidly escalating paranoia regarding his ill advised decision to risk everything on his son's big fight. When things derail, Caine blames everyone but himself for the disaster. Unpleasant consequences follow for anyone he suspects of sabotaging his dream. Eventually the wheels come off and we learn if Caine's suspicions were imagined or correct. - MERK

Billy "Shiner" Simpson (Michael Caine) is building up to his big boxing promoting night, the headline of which is his own son, Eddie "Golden Boy" Simpson (Matthew Marsden). But family troubles begin to weigh heavy, a police investigation closes in on him and a rival American promoter is breathing down his neck. It's going to get messy.

Surprisingly for a Michael Caine British gangster movie, Shiner is a little under known. A shame because it's really rather good. Caine himself felt that by 2000 the cinema loving public had had enough of British films of this type, hence why it did poorly at the box office and quickly disappeared into the retail chain of things.

It's basically a reworking of King Lear, in London and with Caine on super form. Billy Simpson is a grade "A" noir protagonist, the world he inhabits is ultimately too much for him, there's treachery and dishonesty – violence and disappointments, all around him, but still he ploughs on as if he will eventually become the king of the castle. Yet this is the noirville area of London, of grubby bars and grey landscapes, the hall playing host to Billy's big night is a place of stale cheese sandwiches and blocked toilets.

On either side of Billy are his two henchman played by Frank Harper and Andy Serkis, two sides of the same coin they are, though they menace in different ways. Billy's two daughters played by Claire Rushbrook and Frances Barber, also two sides of the same coin, but conversely they have different love for their father. Martin Landau is the smooth American promoter with a dame on his arm and a grudge for Billy, and Gary Lewis and Kenneth Cranham fill out important roles as characters caught in Billy's soon to be maelstrom.

Caine did say that he considers Shiner to be part of a trilogy that comprises Get Carter and Mona Lisa. Shiner isn't close to being as good as those two movies, especially the sublime Get Carter, but it holds its head up high in such company and fans of those movies should seek it out. 8/10

Michael Caine, plays an East End boxing promoter, on the verge of winning a World Title with his son. A brutal look and the beautiful art and plays out like the 'Long Good Friday', This was made at a time when the 'Brit Gangster' genre was at the height of fashion. This is indeed a true insight to the world of British Boxing and it's not a pretty sight.