Review of Shadowboxer (2005) by Johnny W — 02 Sep 2007

Shadowboxer seems to confuse weird and bizarre with edgy originality. So just to mix it up we have a terminally ill aging British Assassin (Helen Mirren) bumping uglies with a younger, blacker hit man whom she raised (Gooding Jr.

). Somehwhere in between we also have Dorff's bad guy who shoves pool cues up people's behinds and has a pet Zebra. Gordon-Levitt also shows up as the worlds youngest doctor who happens to be in a relationship with Mo'Nique.

Had the film tried a less is more approach it could have been more succesful. Hard to place within a genre (never a bad thing) the film feels uneasy but also interests without creating too many mysteries.

Mirren, Gooding Jr., in fact everyone is great in their roles with Dorff relishing every bit of weird twisted craziness is shoved his way. The two leads make a surprisingly believable couple and the love scenes come off well, although Jr's striptease is a bit cringey.

If you enjoy hitman movies then you'll deffinately find something new here.