In the Shadows (2001)
When a stunt man dies in Miami, his uncle, a New York mob boss, sends a hit man to tail the stunt coordinator, whom the boss wants dead. The hit man, Eric O'Bryne, gets close to his mark's daughter, and through her he asks her dad to teach him to do stunts. While waiting for the word to kill this mentor, Eric discovers the joy of stunt work and of being part of a family. Meanwhile, several people are looking for the dead man's briefcase of money and a cloth bag of illegal drugs that he stole from an undercover FBI agent now desperate to get the borrowed drugs back to the bureau. The stunt coordinator says that 'we dance in the shadows of death.' Can Eric step out into the sun?
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Excellent, smart action film.
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
I think we sometimes forget that the point in watching movies is to be entertained. I too, have often been guilty of cynicism in my assessment of what I have seen. This movie was predictable with the exception of the slight twist at the end but it was very entertaining. James Caan has the ability to dominate any scene he is in. Matthew Modine's role was refreshing and he played it with a flair. Most actors, unless they are Director and Producer, are not responsible for what actually makes it to the screen. They are probably lots of great movies that were left on the cutting room floor. The mobster in this movie were smoky, shady and pretty much deserved what they got. The key word though is entertainment and this movie fit the bill. RAM
I watched this film with anticipation. Could it get better, could it get any worse? Well the answer was NO on both counts.Cuba Gooding was obviously NOT a bad guy. Matthew Modine was wooden and not a sympathetic character AT ALL. James Caan usually looks good and he lived up to that...though his character was a blank piece of paper, no life, no substance.The array of Familia were cookie cuttered, I couldn't keep track of who was who. I finally started naming them bad guy in the limo, bad guy looks like Sinatra, bad guy stool pigeon and big fat bad guy.If it promised to be a mob movie, it failed. If it promised to be a love story.....ewwww.If it was meant to be a behind the scenes stunt movie....I can't go on...the best I can say is James Caan usually looks good.So I gave it a 2.
Just want people to know that Cuba Gooding Jrs character is not that of a drug dealer like some of these people commenting on the film has said. They must not have really paid attention because if they had they would have known that he is actually a DEA agent....
On the whole, I thought "In the Shadows" wasn't all that bad. There were times when the dramatics were a little overdone and the short part that Cuba played as a bad-ass international drug smuggler was really NOT believable. Poor casting there folks.James Caan, on the other hand, was quite easy to see as an aging stunt guru. I have always liked watching Caan in a cool, collected, everyday-guy-in-extrordinary-circumstances type of role. He truly shone in this film.Joey Lauren Adams was the one predictable dissapointment. C'mon, a Pediatric Oncologist? Not with her language skills.Overall, I felt it to be a good story. I can't figgure out why everybody else has panned it in their ratings. Sure it's not blockbusting break the bank material....but it was better than the 4.3/10 the rest of you folks gave it.My call: 7/10