I'd sooner sit through 32 hours of Congressional committee testimony about imported yarn than watch Shadowboxer again.
Comment
08/04/06
Rate this Movie 
Shadowboxer (2006)
20
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work
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
Get This Movie
Reviews for Shadowboxer
It 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
The 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
It 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
A rubbernecker's movie....There's a new Zalman King in town, and his name is Lee Daniels.
07/27/06
One of the campiest, most lushly ludicrous movies to come out in a while.
07/27/06
Top CriticAt worst, Lee Daniels is a poor man's Quentin Tarantino, both literally and figuratively. And that's not a bad thing; just ask Guy Ritchie.
07/21/06
This film is, as they say, close but no cigar.
07/21/06
This daring film may not completely hold together, but it has a bracing, off-kilter sensibility -- a mixture of mordant humor and melancholy -- that mostly compensates for the occasional lulls and clunky, obvious moments.
07/21/06
Billed 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
Not 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
A film replete with awful acting that glorifies nihilism...in your face movie-making by people with a moral compass badly askew. There's nothing remotely entertaining about this film.
07/21/06
a pleasant surprise
07/21/06
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
Latest 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...
RT On Current TV
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
Best Dozen of the Decade 
Last week, MSN gave us their top 09 films. Now see what their favorites of the decade are!
Top 50 of 2009
Here's a list of the 50 best movies of 2009, according to the good people over at Moviefone.
Santa's Naughty List
Hollywood.com takes a stab at determining who in movies will be on Santa's naughty list in 2009.
Top 10 Movies of 2009
TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.
Top 20 of the Decade
Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!
RSS Feeds