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08/19/06
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Shadowboxer (2006)
20
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Reviews Counted:56
Fresh:11
Rotten:45
Average Rating:4/10
Consensus: With random characters and a preposterous plot, this bizarre thriller might leave you with your mouth hanging open in disbelief.
Theatrical Release:Jul 21, 2006 Limited
Box Office: $317,695
Synopsis: Hardboiled and at times incongruous, Lee Daniels's (MONSTER'S BALL) directorial debut sets out to smash stereotypes with a noirish crime thriller about loyalty, loss, love, and guilt. Cuba Gooding... [More]
Starring: Cuba Gooding, Helen Mirren, Vanessa Ferlito, Macy Gray
Director: Lee Daniels
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Reviews for Shadowboxer
The artificially staged and lush visuals are at such odds with the reserved, subtle performances that you'll wish director Lee Daniels had done away with the pretense and just pointed the camera at the actors and yelled 'Action!'
07/20/06
Aaron Spelling may be slapping his forehead, but a few cemetary plots over, 1950's melodrama king Douglas Sirk is smiling.
02/01/09
...overheated, rarely convincing crime drama.
07/20/06
"Shadowboxer" is supposed to be concerned with how parents' lifestyles can be passed down to their children, but that is too simplistic here. The film, instead, is more a showcase of naked bodies, gory scenarios and over-the-top performances.
09/02/06
Daniels offers a lame attempt to do what Quentin Tarantino has frequently done better -- and with far more cinematic artistry.
07/28/06
There's no glee here, just a handful of glum characters stuck in an unending cycle of sex, violence, and heavy-handed preaching.
08/19/06
Daniels know his way around making the viewer uncomfortable, but there's a fine line between genuine, pants-tickling eroticism and 'I can't believe I'm watching this surrounded by strangers' soft-core porn.
08/04/06
The casting seems to be an attempt to manufacture interesting characters, instead of depending on the script to do that.
08/04/06
Should you go? Not in public. But with a group of like-minded friends and the DVD, there might be circumstances under which you'd find it hilarious.
08/04/06
Clayton is one of those outsized movie villains. He's the sort who wears his designer shirt unbuttoned and beard slightly fuzzy, shoots his minions when they fail him, and keeps a zebra on his front lawn.
07/21/06
Despite assembling a talented cast and crew, Daniels is stymied here by a script that takes itself far too seriously.
03/01/07
The script can't quite get a grasp on character depth, yet it also can't quite deliver the cheap thrills such a trashy tale might otherwise provide.
11/04/06
A strident and shocking jumble.
07/20/06
Top CriticIt's hard to pinpoint the exact moment when it becomes clear that this lurid, steroidal neo-noir is certifiably insane (or at least a lot funnier than it means to be), but it's pretty early on.
07/18/06
Top CriticIf only Shadowboxer had gone for more than an unwavering commitment to imitate better movies, it might have been one for the cult shelves at the video store. Right now, you'll be lucky if you find it in the giveaway bin.
07/20/06
Top CriticIf he earns no other accolades for his directorial debut -- a distinct likelihood -- Lee Daniels deserves some kind of award just for assembling the most bizarrely random cast of this young century.
07/21/06
With the exception of the acting, this amateurish and incomplete film gives the impression that the debutant writer and director want to cram into their saga as many subects as possible, though none too well.
07/18/06
This film is, as they say, close but no cigar.
07/21/06
Mirren and Gooding are interesting -- and sexy -- to watch together. Once she leaves the film, the picture loses a bit of its uniqueness.
12/30/06
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