Movies

Shadowboxer is an emotionally-charged, full-throttle thriller, which delves deep into the harsh underworld of organized crime and uncovers the complex lives of trained assassins, Mikey (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) and Rose (Helen Mirren). But when a brutal crime boss wants his wife dead, Rose has a change of heart when they find her pregnant. And so, the three begin a harrowing life on the run. Driven by fierce love, Rose and Mikey protect their adopted family from present danger -- looking to redeem their tragic past.

As the movie began to pick up steam, it really began to rub me the wrong way. There were ridiculous scenes at the beginning that I figured only set the stage for more to come. Luckily the weird beginning did not become the weird middle or the weird ending. The movie got less bizarre, but the story never really seemed to do much for me. The only redeeming factors in Shadowboxer were a few performances. The cast was decent and some of the actors did a respectful job.

The bad guy: I like Stephen Dorff; he reminds me of a young, Lost Boys-esque Kiefer Sutherland. But maybe the vampire vibe comes from his part in Blade. The world may never know. He plays the over-the-top crime boss. We see that his men are fiercely loyal, though we never know why. We never find out what he does or why he is so good at it. All we know is that he is heartless and wants his wife killed. I like him, but he wasn't great here. Though some of you may enjoy his full-frontal scene...

The good guy: Cuba Gooding, Jr. has played some brilliant parts over his well-respected career. He has done great work in great films and he has done great work in some lesser films. Shadowboxer will fall into the latter category. Cuba's role was not one many other actors would covet, especially if they had his name recognition, but he was impressive in it. Another "lesser" movie in which Cuba excelled is A Murder of Crows.

The doctor: Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Out of nowhere, Gordon-Levitt has given me two great performances. He did not have a lead role in Shadowboxer like he did in Brick, but he is still worth mentioning. I can talk about how good Cuba was and I can talk about how excited I get when a movie is set in Philadelphia and someone makes a run to Pat's for cheesesteaks, but it was really Gordon-Levitt's performance that was the highlight of the movie for me. His part was much less serious than his character in Brick, and it was hilarious. Maybe it wasn't intended to make me laugh so hard, but Gordon-Levitt as the crime boss's go-to doctor when "accidents" occur, who also has an affinity for large black women...if you would not laugh you don't have a sense of humor.

If you take a "Hey, I think you'll like this" recommendation from someone who has not even seen the movie you could enjoy parts of it. That is the brief version of how I ended up seeing Shadowboxer. I went through it so now you don't have to. And now I can do my small part to educate you on a movie you are probably better off avoiding.

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