Posted: 12/29/2005

Shadowboxer

(2005)

by Aaron Riccio

A man, spread-eagled on a pool table, the eight-ball gagging his squeals, struggles with his bonds. Stephen Dorff, the effortless villain, juggles a pool-cue and sneers. Cinematography, camera angles, lighting, and color: they are all exquisitely vivid. We know something bloody is about to happen - there’s no surprise in Shadowboxer - but we’re entertained enough to watch how. In this case, Dorff will pull down the man’s pants, snap the stick in half, and, as one end flops away in slow-motion, use it “naughtily.” As much as there’s violence for the sake of violence, director Lee Daniels has also managed to find beauty for the sake of beauty.

It’s an interesting effect, one that lacks the emotional impact of Requiem for a Dream and the ruthless beauty of The Professional. But for a directorial debut, Lee Daniels has made a very intriguing art-house thriller. Mikey (Cuba Gooding Jr., finally out of his rut) and Rose (Helen Mirren) are the unlikeliest of assassins and lovers. But make no mistake: love or war, they’re good at what they do. Up until they’re hired by bad-ass Clayton (Dorff) to kill his wife, Vickie (Vanessa Ferlito). As Rose prepares to fire, Vickie’s water breaks, and Rose, dying of cancer, sees an opportunity to redeem whatever part of her soul is left. This even unlikelier quartet sounds like a new comedy (“Two Killers, a Dame, and a Baby”), but writer Will Rokos stays on the ball (Monster’s Ball , forgive the pun) and keeps it serious. (He even finds a way to make Mo’Nique more than a walking punch line.)

Where Shadowboxer runs into difficulty is the meager plot from Rokos. In terms of pacing and dialogue, he wants to be David Mamet (of “get in late, get out early” fame), but only manages to produce a lot of ambiguity. The clearest scenes are those with Dorff - a caricature of evil - and the complexities get lost in a blur of clever cinematic slight-of-hand. Movies are the ultimate illusion, but there’s a real sense of being faked out here, especially with all the deliberate imagery either superimposed or alternated during and between scenes. Still, for all the tricks, Lee Daniels has done some swell casting, and when he focuses on the immediate scenery - the hopeful eyes of an assassin realizing there is something worth living for - it all comes together.

There’s a lot of good - particularly in the performances - but it’s a mostly silent presentation. For a hip movie about killers (or so the upbeat soundtrack might make you believe), there aren’t any memorable lines, just some fantastic images. Definitely not “Assassins for Dummies,” Shadowboxer is the upper-class hit-man movie. Whether or not that’s a good thing (for example, it’s far less accessible than “Road to Perdition”) depends on if you like to admire art more than being moved by it.

Aaron Riccio is a theatre critic and film reviewer living in New York.

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