Trained assassins do the right thing and rehash a very bad cliché at the same time.
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07/21/06
Shadowboxer (2006)
20
%
Tomatometer
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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.
Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins
Genre: Dramas
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
Reviews for Shadowboxer
A layer cake of weird and wild images married to a plot that's lurid, ludicrous and bizarrely hypnotic.
07/20/06
If 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
A strident and shocking jumble.
07/20/06
Shadowboxer, 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 CriticThe 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
This is a sick flick. Sick, but satisfying.
07/20/06
After 90-odd minutes of bludgeoning us into open-jawed bafflement, Shadowboxer is best aborted, and flushed away as one of 2006's more unpleasant memories.
07/20/06
...overheated, rarely convincing crime drama.
07/20/06
Shadowboxer 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
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
It wants to break new ground but lacks the ability to think outside of the box.
07/08/06
An envelope-pushing melodrama just this side of 'Pulp Fiction' parody.
07/05/06
"Mr. and Mrs. Smith" in an altered consciousness--one that'll bring arthouse habituees to attention, if not to their feet, out of respect for courage and originality.
03/05/06
...never quite becomes anything more than a mildly diverting thriller...
10/02/05
Apparently convinced that the daring material would provide them with an opportunity to give their craft a strenuous workout, Gooding Jr. and Mirren gamely apply themselves but end up looking uncomfortable under Daniels' heavy-handed directorial imprint.
09/26/05
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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