Thumbs down to a movie of such vile and violent temper.
Comment
08/25/06
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Shadowboxer (2006)
10
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Reviews Counted:21
Fresh:2
Rotten:19
Average Rating:3.6/10
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
Top CriticGosh, it's almost too bad/good to be true.
08/25/06
Top CriticThe one thing I'll say about Shadowboxer is that it's never boring. Of course, I could also say that about stepping on crushed glass.
08/07/06
Top CriticIt tells a story that would fit perfectly in a standard Hollywood action thriller, but it tells it in the grammar and syntax of an art film. The two sensibilities make no sense together.
08/03/06
Top CriticArresting performances by Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding Jr. are squandered on a moody thriller that has way too much mood and not nearly enough thrills.
08/03/06
Top CriticThe movie at heart is just a wallow in ugliness and unpleasantness in the service of nothing.
07/28/06
Top CriticA ridiculous movie that starts off completely cracked and just gets crazier and crazier.
07/28/06
Top CriticDaniels offers a lame attempt to do what Quentin Tarantino has frequently done better -- and with far more cinematic artistry.
07/28/06
Top CriticIt doesn't take long to figure out that Shadowboxer's Helen Mirren, as a cancer-ridden hitwoman, and Cuba Gooding Jr., as her doting stepson, are the most unconvincing team of hired assassins in movie history.
07/28/06
Top CriticThe storytelling is so overwrought, humorless and misguided, the film is like a noir car wreck.
07/27/06
Top CriticWho says critics are useless? Now you don't have to see the movie, unless, of course, you derive some satisfaction/pleasure from graphic violence, unforgivably cliched scripts and/or repeated sightings of Gooding's bare bottom.
07/27/06
Top CriticOne of the campiest, most lushly ludicrous movies to come out in a while.
07/27/06
Top CriticBilled as film noir, but because it lacks any subtlety and accentuates gratuitous violence that is more in-your-face than it is implied, the movie is about as noir-ish as Rocky.
07/21/06
Top CriticNot only will you want to shower after seeing this repellent movie -- the Rose-Mikey sex scenes are especially icky -- you'll feel sorry for the cast.
07/21/06
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
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 CriticA strident and shocking jumble.
07/20/06
Top CriticShadowboxer, a gaudy thriller saturated in sex and violence, is an extravagance that leaves you with your mouth hanging open -- partly in admiration of its audacity and partly in disbelief at its preposterousness.
07/20/06
Top CriticShadowboxer admirably jostles and upends the fatigued killer-for-hire genre.
07/18/06
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 CriticLatest News for Shadowboxer
July 20, 2006:
Critical Consensus: "Lady" Is All Wet; "Ex" Is Not Super; "House" Is Scary, "Clerks" Is Funny
This week we've got some magic in ordinary dwellings (M. Night Shyamalan's "Lady in the Water" and "Monster House") and some funny couples ("My Super... More...
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