Shadowboxer 2005

Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: Aaron Spelling may be slapping his forehead, but a few cemetary plots over, 1950's melodrama king Douglas Sirk is smiling. Read more

Jessica Reaves, Chicago Tribune: Who 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. Read more

Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: It ... has an insistently fussy and grandiose production design that mistakes lavish textures, brilliant colors and exotic backdrops for story atmosphere and style. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: The movie at heart is just a wallow in ugliness and unpleasantness in the service of nothing. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: The 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. Read more

Steve Murray, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: One of the campiest, most lushly ludicrous movies to come out in a while. Read more

Richard Nilsen, Arizona Republic: 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. Read more

Stephen Williams, Newsday: 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. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: 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. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: A ridiculous movie that starts off completely cracked and just gets crazier and crazier. Read more

Greg Burk, L.A. Weekly: This is a sick flick. Sick, but satisfying. Read more

Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger: The storytelling is so overwrought, humorless and misguided, the film is like a noir car wreck. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: If 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. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times: Daniels offers a lame attempt to do what Quentin Tarantino has frequently done better -- and with far more cinematic artistry. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Gosh, it's almost too bad/good to be true. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Thumbs down to a movie of such vile and violent temper. Read more

Robert Koehler, Variety: Shadowboxer admirably jostles and upends the fatigued killer-for-hire genre. Read more

Dennis Lim, Village Voice: It'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. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: 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. Read more