Critic Reviews
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Cath Clarke, Time Out
While it's hard to grumble about such a smart, intelligent drama after a summer of big bangs, its slow pace at times feels sluggish.
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William Goss, Film.com
Riseborough gives a tremendously vulnerable and resolute turn as a protector at home and avenger abroad forced to reconsider the extent to which she is capable of avoiding the crossfire on all sides.
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Justin Chang, Variety
The occasional flareup of violence notwithstanding, it's Riseborough's performance that provides the primary source of suspense.
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Catherine Bray, Film4
A sensitive film that respects the conflict in which it is set rather than using it for cheap thrills.
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Jim Schembri, 3AW
Director James Marsh fashions a taut thriller out of tough material, much of which pinwheels on a compelling central performance from Andrea Riseborough as a woman trapped in a tightening emotional vice.
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Sandra Hall, Sydney Morning Herald
Shadow Dancer is a quietly devastating story of the poisonous effect of northern Irish politics on the life of a single family.
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David Stratton, At the Movies (Australia)
This is a tough, thought-provoking nail-biter.
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Jake Wilson, The Age (Australia)
The film hardly seems like more than an exercise: the plot wraps up neatly but the emotional significance of a key revelation is barely explored.
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Craig Mathieson, sbs.com.au
Marsh improves the movie from the page to the screen. What's shown is often more striking than what's said, but in the perpetual subterfuge of Shadow Dancer that can't fully distinguish a familiar plot from its numerous predecessors.
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Patrick Kolan, Shotgun Critic
This is an uncomfortable movie; a tense and sometimes deliberately drawn out tale - but those who invest the time will uncover some excellent performances.
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Simon Miraudo, Quickflix
Post-credits food-for-thought is a rarity in most films these days, and that it should come in the wrapper of a totally engrossing thriller is some kind of wonderful.
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Ed Gibbs, The Sunday Age
Riseborough once again astounds with her ability to inhabit a character, with Owen also on cracking form as the agent under fire from all sides.
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Adam Ross, The Aristocrat
...a slow burning and engrossing film that demonstrates the morally caustic nature of terrorism.
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Lisa Giles-Keddie, HeyUGuys
Marsh's Shadow Dancer is a complex and beautifully realised Irish Troubles thriller of cerebral and psychological proportions.
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Rich Cline, Contactmusic.com
Like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, this thriller refuses to burst out into action mode, preferring to keep its thrills cerebral
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Ed Whitfield, The Ooh Tray
Marsh's film brilliantly evokes the fearful, morbid undercurrent to Belfast in the last years of the conflict - a place where life and death could pivot on a wrong answer.
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Philip French, Observer [UK]
After the simple, lucid start, the film becomes a labyrinthine tale of cat and mouse, of deception and double cross, of betrayal and confused allegiances.
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Donald Clarke, Irish Times
Though reluctant to engage too closely with the still-controversial politics of dissent, Shadow Dancer works brilliantly as a displaced espionage drama.
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Jason Best, Movie Talk
Man on Wire director James Marsh has come up with a thriller that's as taut as his earlier film, and whose protagonist is striving to pull off a balancing act that's no less perilous than his aerialist hero's high-wire stunts.
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MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher
Even the marvelous performances by Owen and the on-the-rise Riseborough are not enough to ratchet up the drama to the level of the totally gripping -- a damn shame and something of a puzzler...
Read all 23 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
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'Shadow Dancer'. A solid thriller centred around sacrifice, set against the bleakness of the IRA. Andrea Riseborough captivates all the way.
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The latest film from James Marsh (one of the most promising directors working today in my opinion) is not one for the average moviegoer. Like one of my favourites of last year, ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', it requires a lot of patience and is slow-burning. I… More
The latest film from James Marsh (one of the most promising directors working today in my opinion) is not one for the average moviegoer. Like one of my favourites of last year, ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', it requires a lot of patience and is slow-burning. I found ''Shadow Dancer'' to be tense throughout, wonderfully acted and well directed by Marsh.
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The only commendable aspect of documentarian turned narrative film-maker Marsh's latest is Riseborough's lead performance. She's brilliant as the terrorist torn between her family's politics and the threat of her son growing up without a mother. The rest of the… More
The only commendable aspect of documentarian turned narrative film-maker Marsh's latest is Riseborough's lead performance. She's brilliant as the terrorist torn between her family's politics and the threat of her son growing up without a mother. The rest of the film is reprehensible, particularly when viewed from an Irish perspective. The Irish Film Board seems hell-bent on portraying it's people as idiots, drunks and bombers by contributing to the funding of British productions like "Grabbers", "The Guard", and this thriller which has all the political nuance of a Roy Rogers' western.
The film is written by Tom Bradby, based on his novel. Bradby is a political editor for a British news channel so presumably has some insight into the conflict in Northern Ireland. None of that awareness is evident here, if it weren't for their accents his terrorists could hail from anywhere and represent any random cause. When you're dealing with a real terrorist group their agenda must be acknowledged, whether you agree with it or not. If you're not willing to provide any insight into why these people are willing to commit such violent atrocities then you should be using a fictional organisation rather than being disingenuous to an entire race of people. In Bradby's hands, the IRA have all the depth of the villains from a straight to video Dolph Lundgren movie. There's never any mention of why they have a gripe with the British authorities, everything's played out in simplistic black and white terms. It's akin to how Hollywood portrays the American civil war as good (The North) versus evil (The South) when the reality of course is much more complex. The movie disgustingly attempts to manipulate British viewers with a scene involving the planting of a bomb on the London Underground. For what it's worth, no Irish person has ever detonated a bomb on the Tube but several British people have.
Gone are the days when British films dealt with the subject of Ireland from a remorseful perspective. Not since John Wayne made "The Green Berets" has such propaganda been disguised as entertainment. Being a successful documentary film-maker, Marsh should know the value of representing all sides of a story. If he's not willing to then he shouldn't be making films based on real-life topics. Maybe a straight to video Dolph Lundgren vehicle would suit him better?
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Another good bbc film. BBC is always same style and taste but can be of decent quality and entertaining.
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