Shadowboxer (2006)

Best movie ever!

Admirable film.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

I enjoyed this movie for all the reasons why the critics panned it - the sex scenes, the violence, the trash talk, the 'predictableness'. Of course, Cuba Gooding, Jr., and Helen Mirren are favorite actors of mine, and they played their roles superbly. Helen Mirren's character's death scene was cinematically riveting. That movie was the first time I had seen Stephen Dorff and found that some subsequent roles had him typecast. He played the same vicious, depraved personality as a vampire in "Blade" that he does as the sadist in this movie. Joseph Levitt's role was surprising. I guess because I hadn't seen him do anything since "Third Rock", in which he was a little kid. To see him performing sex acts! Wow! Mo'Nique was good, but her acting skills grew after this.But the music! "Libertango" is a very exciting composition by Astor Piazzola. Love it! Maybe that's why I was glued to Mirren's death scene. Overall, I found this movie thrilling.

Shadowboxer is certainly a movie that left me scratching my head, and not in a good way either. The performances aren't the problem, it's the surrealism of the script. I really had a lot of problems getting into this one, and just a lot of weird stuff, in fact too weird happened for my liking. The sex scenes between Cuba and Helen Mirren are not only disgusting to witness, but didn't plant many pleasant visuals in my head either. Mirren and Gooding are above this kind of stuff, but some how they are both game for this movie. There isn't much action to go around, and I honestly felt the story to be rather dull in my opinion. I really don't get why Cuba is floundering in obscurity with these DTV efforts. He's done some decent ones, but his talent level is so above this. The title certainly doesn't live it up to it, because aside from Cuba's playful boxing in the shadows, boxing has nothing to do with this movie.Performances. Cuba Gooding Jr is effective that's for sure. His intensity and quite demeanor served him well, but I wish he was in a better movie. Helen Mirren is classy and excellent in her role here. She could have easily phoned it in, but didn't do that. Her chemistry with Cuba was great. Stephhen Dorff is a good baddie, but his role is sadly underdeveloped. Vanessa Ferlito is OK, but her accent does the talking, aside from a few decent scenes. Joseph Gordon-Levitt isn't yet famous like he is now, and didn't really have a whole lot to do here. Mo'Nique is OK, nothing more.Bottom line. If you can figure out this movie, be my guest and check it out. It wasn't for me though, and it's not something I care to revisit again.4 1/2 10

Now we know what a big budget Ed Wood movie would look like. Working from a script by an Academy Award nominated writer, with two Academy Award winning actors and a Spirit Award nominated cinematographer, director Lee Daniels manages to deliver a laughable mess. The story seems to take place in some bizarro world where everyone wears too much makeup, Doogie Howser lives with a grotesque crackhead, and most of the gangsters act like girlie boys. Cuba Gooding, Jr. spends most of the move looking annoyed or embarrassed. Joseph Gordon Levitt, Monique and Stephen Dorff give game performances, but even the great Helen Mirren can't overcome Daniels' ham-handed direction. While Shadowboxer displays all of Ed Wood's incompetence and unintentional humor, it has none of the charm that made Mr. Wood a cult favorite.

There's no question of including a spoiler. Frankly I didn't find a discernible understandable story line, so how could there be a spoiler. The only reason this film got a "1" rating from me, is because I think any glimpse of Helen Mirren, however unpleasant, is worth something. Not much, though, in this case. Helen must have needed the money to take part in this fiasco. As others have said, this is easily one of the worst films ever produced. It masquerades under false colours for one thing.Really, it should be marketed as pornography and sold only in porn shops. I can conceive that some pornography might not be considered entirely offensive to some people, but this film seems determined to offer something offensive to everyone. If you are a Helen Mirren fan, as I am, my advice is to forget this one. I reran one of her DVI Joan Tennison (Prime Suspect} films to take the bad taste out of my mouth. So why did I check the "spoiler" box? Some folks might interpret this entire commentary a "spoiler"!