Shadowboxer (2005)

Audacious may be the best word to describe this. It is filled with much of the same style and honesty that Lee Daniels brought to his next film 'Precious', making it a good primer for that noteworthy film. Though it can be highly sexual, violent, stylized, and filled with some baroque plot twists, it has a go-for-broke ingenuousness that makes it all work. It reminds me of Sweet Sweetback's Badaaass Song in the way it plays to what the director knows is a pulpy, inner city aesthetic, but that it is of his world, one filled with violence and unsavory characters. No one here is entirely sympathetic. It defies the stereotypes of more traditional formula driven films. There's no comforting message. Combine all this with his love for films like Sweet Charity and you have an odd film.

Daniels confidence in his own vision certainly applies to his notable casting choices that distinguish his films. He is a great director of actors and makes sure that they understand his own background and reasons for employing certain character types and situations. In Shadowboxer, Macy Grey is not only credible, but terrific (as was Mariah Carey in Precious). He gets an understated performance from Cuba Gooding Jr. which alone is a worthy achievement. Helen Mirren deserves accolades, for not just being the great actress one expects, but for maintaining needed integrity in what must have seemed a risky venture. She anchors the story beautifully in what are, to say the least, some bizarre situations. The casting of Mo'nique as lover to Joseph Gordon-Levitt is also wonderful. And Stephen Dorff's full frontal, Trojan and all, is on for the records. In fact, Lee Daniels general obsession with male beauty and asses is a theme in itself. Hello Gus Van Zant! I suppose in the wrong mood you could find the movie just over the top. Even though it's far a perfect film, it is great fun and shows Lee Daniels as a director of force and confidence.

Fmovies: Shadowboxer Mr. Black's Grade: B Starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Helen Mirren.

First-time director Lee Daniels, producer of two challenging projects, Monster's Ball and The Woodsman tries his hand behind the lens. Mirren plays a female assassin who is diagnosed with cancer, and decides to carry out a final killing assisted by Gooding.

Shadowboxer certainly is a dark film - think Prizzi's Honor but with a very different tone - but Helen Mirren handles this 'unique' relationship with tenderness and dignity. I thought the ending wasn't terribly suspenseful, and it should have been. I kept trying picture how a different, and more experienced director would handle it. A number of crew members were there for the Q/A, including the director. Heck, even a PA came in from Philly (you keener!) Wes Bentley was scheduled to co-star but dropped out.

His role was filled by Cuba Gooding Jr., who succeeded in erasing Snow Dogs from my memory. He is very good here, playing it straight and very cold. In the Q/A afterwards he talked about the differences between doing comedy and drama. He said that he is pursuing roles that allow humor to come from the actions of the character - like in this film - and not obvious comedy. He enjoyed the laughter that his character got from the crowd at the screening, when his character was reacting to situations within the plot and not 'trying' to be funny.

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 ...

Shadowboxer fmovies. I must say that this film is extremely weird. The acting by Cuba Gooding Jr. is not surprising. He always lives up to the roles of the character in most of his movies. He was good. The producer used great colors and slow still images in all right scenes.(especially the love scenes). From start to finish this film is somewhat mysterious. It sticks with you after the ending credits are rolling. You would have to watch it and pay close attention to the dialogue to understand what is really happening. It's not an action movie(although there are scenes of violence), and the only thing that grabs your attention is how the movie actually ends. After seeing how it ends, i must say that the ending was very predictable(thats not to say that the ending was horrible, it was great). If you are into mystery movies you would want to pick this one up, but don't expect anything major. There should be a sequel!

I can't believe I'm agreeing with the other review but Cuba's role did erase snow dogs from my memory. He was phenomenal.

Thats about the only nice thing I can say about this film. It has a number of problems and I suspect Mr. Daniels would not like to hear any of them, the two worst:

1. All shock and no substance. Sex and violence are fine, when they are part of the story. I'm sure Lee thinks they are part of the story, but the film would have been 1000 times better if it were a bit more subtle. This is a difficult point to grasp. I wasn't offended or anything, I just think it looks like he is using this as a crutch instead of art. It comes across as trying to hard to be edgy. It basically loses its impact.

2. Boring Story. So ridiculously predictable. Its really a shame given the great acting and interesting characters. Total fizzle at the end though.

3. Doesn't live up to its potential. Well cast, great acting, beautiful cinematography, but somehow all the pieces just don't fit.

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.