Starring Cuba Gooding Jr, Helen Mirren, Stephen Dorff, Vanessa Ferlito
Directed by Lee Daniels
Quirky, thoughtful film noir.
Shadowboxing was a pleasant surprise, and has a decidedly interesting and unique sensibility to it.
It's the story of Mikey (Cuba Gooding Jr) and Rose (Helen Mirren), a couple with a complex relationship who are also assassins for hire. Rose has terminal cancer, and decides to take on one last job. This movie is the story of the consequences of what happens on that hit.
There's a number of different relationships which are explored here - most of them being at least either amusing or intriguing (and certainly no doubt far fetched, but refreshingly so - you'll understand when you see it), but it definitely strikes a decent balance between character development and plot. Being able to invest enough in your characters that you care what happens while also not ending up a meandering mess is a difficult balance to achieve, and I believe "Shadowboxing" does so well.
For a movie with some surprisingly graphic nudity (Stephen Dorff's wang is what the ladies refer to as a "nice" size) and violence (that's certainly one way to use a pool cue), it also has many tender, tense and funny moments to it, too. Certainly a movie well worth seeing if you want to watch something out of the ordinary.
Watch out for a couple of amusing performances by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Macy Gray, too.
8/10