Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

beerhug The year is 2012 and I have just completed watching this movie. To be honest I think this is one of the few movies where I saw some intense stuff from Cuba Gooding Jr. however I feel the antagonist could have been a little more satirical and Joseph Gordon was simply wasted in this film. Mirren did OK and the lady love Vanessa Ferlito was expressionless however the plot was interesting.When the question comes to execution this movie is somewhat derailed despite the futile effort of the director, I guess it shows the weakness in the script. What if is the biggest question in this movie's execution. What if the scene was executed in this manner, what if the actor executed the dialogue in this manner and stuff like that. I guess we will know now.One of the biggest disappoint was Mo'nique's role and yet it is one of the better executed role. I guess in Hollywood African American women aren't provided much chance to express their talent again it is a loss to the cinema.On a scale of ten I rate this one 6

p-stepien Aging contract killer Rose (Helen Mirren) is a terminally sick with cancer. Her stepson and lover Mikey (Cuba Gooding Jr.) aids her in her line of work, silently dedicated to the woman. During their last joint kill for mafia kingpin Clayton (played ruthlessly by Stephen Dorff) Rose finds herself unable to assassinate his pregnant wife and instead decides to assimilate her into her dysfunctional little household.Stylized with some noirish feel and a touch of European art-house Lee Daniels (of "Precious" fame) debut feature is a mixed bag rather brutally dissected by most critics as a failed adventure into weird and whack. However the general consensus is that Cuba Gooding Jr, Helen Mirren and Stephen Dorff lift the movie, the feeling among the professionals is that this is a failed mixture of styles and forms. Essentially the movie has a fairly standard film structure as an action movie, but the form differentiates itself from the norm, telling stories more with visuals then with dialogues. Here we are also treated with a fairly outlandish duo of leads, which create the ultimate movie taboo couple (mixed race, older woman and young man plus a hint of incest, not to mention we are supposed to sympathise with a pair of seasoned killers-for-hire). Ultimately the experiment does seem to provoke most critics to widespread ire at the audacity, which isn't helped by the amateurish execution of several key scenes of the movie.Verging on pretentious the reaction to this movie can be pretty extreme. Unlike "Drive" the novel take on an action flick moves subtly and uses exquisite movie language, whilst what "Shadowboxer" attempts is derailed by sub-par realisation and excessive experimentation. Despite the potentially groundbreaking script all these fallacies hit too many bad notes, essentially making the watch fascinating, but at the same time irking viewers to point out what's wrong with various scenes, gimmicks and ideas, instead of focusing on the story at hand.

tjackson 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.

redeyethug187 first of all this movie was a crappy mess maybe that is not the word I am looking for it just tries to shock but the comments on this movie are ridiculous because it is a wannabe gangster or whatever it is trying to be it is not put together well at all I mean Cuba gooding he was good in the 90's but now he just does not know what he is doing and stephen dorf who cares about him man he is shitty it is just ridiculous I mean you could watch el topo and that movie is hell of a lot better than this and more shocking too. Lee Daniels does not know what he is doing and anybody could make a better film using lesser actors. The actors in this movie should have known that this movie was a bunch of trash and they did it because of the paychecks but thats actors putting themselves in awful movies only if the money is good.