Shadowboxer (2005)

19% of critics liked it
(57 reviews)
39% of users liked it
(64,008 ratings)

A late-career change of heart leads to a dangerous life on the run for two seasoned assassins whose complex relationship masks a dark past in director Lee Daniels' pulpy film noir. When Mickey (Cuba Gooding Jr.) was just a child, his abusive father savagely murdered the young boy's mother shortly… More A late-career change of heart leads to a dangerous life on the run for two seasoned assassins whose complex relationship masks a dark past in director Lee Daniels' pulpy film noir. When Mickey (Cuba Gooding Jr.) was just a child, his abusive father savagely murdered the young boy's mother shortly before being gunned down by Rose (Helen Mirren), Mickey's stepmother. Twenty years later, Mickey and Rose are not only working together as hired killers, but they have grown to become lovers as well. When Rose discovers she is dying of terminal cancer and becomes addicted to morphine, her conscience soon prompts her to reevaluate her murderous ways. Assigned the task of taking out Vickie (Vanessa Ferlito), the wife of local crime boss Clayton (Stephen Dorff), Mickey and Rose are unable to complete their mission upon discovering that Vickie is pregnant. With the tragedy of the past threatening to lock Mickey, Rose, and their reluctant charge into a tragic cycle of death and deceit, the reluctant killers attempt to make amends for their violent past by protecting Vickie's unborn child and allowing Rose one last chance at redemption. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 33 min.
Directed By: Lee Daniels
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense

In Theaters: Sep 9, 2005 Wide
On DVD: Nov 7, 2006
Studio: Freestyle Releasing

Critic Reviews

Peter Howell, Toronto Star
Thumbs down to a movie of such vile and violent temper.
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail
Gosh, it's almost too bad/good to be true.
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
The one thing I'll say about Shadowboxer is that it's never boring. Of course, I could also say that about stepping on crushed glass.
Richard Nilsen, Arizona Republic
It tells a story that would fit perfectly in a standard Hollywood action thriller, but it tells it in the grammar and syntax of an art film. The two sensibilities make no sense together.
Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Arresting performances by Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding Jr. are squandered on a moody thriller that has way too much mood and not nearly enough thrills.
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
The movie at heart is just a wallow in ugliness and unpleasantness in the service of nothing.
Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly
Aaron Spelling may be slapping his forehead, but a few cemetary plots over, 1950's melodrama king Douglas Sirk is smiling.
Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
The raw materials for a gutsy, gritty, fearless, fascinating thriller are here, but they amount to some intriguing individual parts and not a satisfying, cohesive whole.
Kam Williams, Ban the N-Word
This cat-and-mouse caper's Swiss cheese plotline is riddled with too many holes to consider this flick as much more than a snuff film.
Daniel Eagan, Film Journal International
Despite assembling a talented cast and crew, Daniels is stymied here by a script that takes itself far too seriously.
Andrea Chase, Killer Movie Reviews
That most wonderful of films, the kind that works on every level, but can't be easily pigeonholed.
Evan Henerson, Los Angeles Daily News
Mirren and Gooding are interesting -- and sexy -- to watch together. Once she leaves the film, the picture loses a bit of its uniqueness.
Andrea Chase, Killer Movie Reviews
that most wonderful of films, the kind that works on every level, but can't be easily pigeonholed
Brett Buckalew, FilmStew.com
Though generally well-acted, it is rendered by director Lee Daniels with such stifling pretension and aggressive weirdness that it becomes an unintentional art-film parody.
David Cornelius, eFilmCritic.com
The script can't quite get a grasp on character depth, yet it also can't quite deliver the cheap thrills such a trashy tale might otherwise provide.
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Mo'Nique as lovers? Now we've seen everything.
Angela Baldassarre, Sympatico.ca
"Shadowboxer" is supposed to be concerned with how parents' lifestyles can be passed down to their children, but that is too simplistic here. The film, instead, is more a showcase of naked bodies, gory scenarios and over-the-top performances.
Jane Stevenson, Jam! Movies
It's all so cliched in terms of personalities and full of such unbelievable situations that it's often downright laughable. And not in a good way.
Brian Clark, Austin Chronicle
There's no glee here, just a handful of glum characters stuck in an unending cycle of sex, violence, and heavy-handed preaching.
Luke Y. Thompson, New Times
Much of the movie is just too unintentionally goofy to take at face value

Read all 21 critic reviews

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

Jim H

Two hired assassins help raise their mark's daughter while being pursued by her sociopath boyfriend. Lee Daniels's, the director behind <i>Precious</i>, debut is an attempt at a thriller, but it's in the guise of an art film with all of the pretension and… More
Two hired assassins help raise their mark's daughter while being pursued by her sociopath boyfriend. Lee Daniels's, the director behind <i>Precious</i>, debut is an attempt at a thriller, but it's in the guise of an art film with all of the pretension and none of the art. There are long sequences during which the actors emote and look vaguely troubled, and the stylized violence that is supposed to look cool, an imitation of Tarantino. Even the characters are reminiscent of Tarantino, and Daniels's addition is a unmentioned and unexplained mismatch of romantic couples. The 100-pound Joseph Gordon-Levitt is paired with the ... uh ... over-100-pound Mo'Nique, and the thirty-eight-year-old Cuba Gooding Jr is paired with sixty-one-year-old Helen Mirren. The latter match is explained by an odd step-Oedipal complex, but suffice it to say that I think these matches are Daniels's attempt at liberal multiculturalism, saying that love transcends looks, age, and race, but it all comes at the expense of verisimilitude. I did enjoy the performances in parts, especially by Stephen Dorff as the psycho boyfriend, but overall, there isn't much that could redeem this film.
♥˩ƳИИ &

Helen Mirren, Cuba Gooding Jr., Vanessa Ferlito A mother and her stepson have a romantic relationship while working as contract killers, but soon they learn there is someone trying to hunt them down. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I actually… More
Helen Mirren, Cuba Gooding Jr., Vanessa Ferlito A mother and her stepson have a romantic relationship while working as contract killers, but soon they learn there is someone trying to hunt them down. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I actually don't know how to explain this movie. It was a bit disturbing. But the story was really interesting. Helen Mirren was great in this movie. I really liked Cuba Gooding Jr's performance. This whole movie was something you felt kinda wrong for watching but you can't help to, cause of the story, and you want to see where it goes. First movie I have ever watched with Vanessa Ferlito I believe. Thought she was great. It's definitely a movie worth seeing. The characters had some odd love interests that surprised me. Not so much in a good way. Kinda made me cringe, but not in disgust or anything, just uncomfortable. LOL. I watched this movie cause it has some of my favorite actors in it. Turned out to be a little bit more interesting then I thought it would be, and some things took me by surprise, but its a film I would possibly watch again.
Lady D

This was certainly a film of odd pairings, Helen Mirran and Cuba Gooding Jr and then Joseph Gordon Levitt and Mo'Nique, but the strangest part of the film was the sexual content, which seemed to be just oddly placed here and there and didn't seem to fit in with the rest of… More
This was certainly a film of odd pairings, Helen Mirran and Cuba Gooding Jr and then Joseph Gordon Levitt and Mo'Nique, but the strangest part of the film was the sexual content, which seemed to be just oddly placed here and there and didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the film. Despite the quality of some of the Actors here, this was a film that never quite reached the excitement we were planning on.
jay n

Convoluted junk
Derek A

If you would like to watch Cuba Gooding Jr. have sex with 60 year old Helen Mirren MANY TIMES then watch this movie. The unfortunate thing about this movie is that the story line is really really good. There's mystery, suspense, action, crime, and.... many interracial,… More
If you would like to watch Cuba Gooding Jr. have sex with 60 year old Helen Mirren MANY TIMES then watch this movie. The unfortunate thing about this movie is that the story line is really really good. There's mystery, suspense, action, crime, and.... many interracial, incestuous, "mature" sex scenes between Gooding and Mirren. You see nothing more than Cuba's butt, but the vivid act itself is awkward and embarassing. Cuba and Mirren also are very unconvincing as contract killers. However, the remaining cast which include Stephen Dorff and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, did exceptionally well. Watch if your curious, but it's unfortunate to see a good story ruined by pointless sex scenes. There are plenty of more intelligent ways of conveying love in a relationship between a mother and her stepson....it's just sick.....
Robert C

A very interesting film. A little disturbing. If it was anyone other then Helen Mirren as the lead, it might not have worked.
Al S

What a different type of film. Gooding isnt that great and is very strange
Luke B

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… More
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.
Nani V

This movie is a little different, but, pretty good.
Roy G

This film is, as they say, close but no cigar.
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]In "Shadowboxer", Clay(Stephen Dorff), violent, psychotic and sadistic even by other gangsters' standards, hires Mikey(Cuba Gooding, Jr.) and Rose(Helen Mirren) to kill his wife, Vicki(Vanessa Ferlito), who he suspects of being unfaithful.(Mikey and… More
[font=Century Gothic]In "Shadowboxer", Clay(Stephen Dorff), violent, psychotic and sadistic even by other gangsters' standards, hires Mikey(Cuba Gooding, Jr.) and Rose(Helen Mirren) to kill his wife, Vicki(Vanessa Ferlito), who he suspects of being unfaithful.(Mikey and Rose have a complex relationship that is just shy of incest. Rose took Mikey in when he was seven, and eventually they became lovers. Now, Rose is dying.) As Rose is about to kill her, she hesitates when a very pregnant Vicki breaks her water and goes into labor...[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]If you can get beyond the plot and some of the more outre elements(and normally I do have a huge problem with movies where killers are pictured as being cuddly but here it makes sense since Rose is dying and starting to reexamine her life), then "Shadowboxer" is a surprisingly intelligent movie with strong performances from Helen Mirren and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Stephen Dorff does certainly enjoy playing the villain. But regrettably the movie has a less than favorable view of African-American women. In the end, the film is about families, especially fathers and how they can pass on their violent ways to their children. Forget video games. Forget movies. This is how children learn about violence.[/font]
Lesley N

A curiosity of a film by Lee Daniels sandwiched between producing MONSTERS BALL four years earlier and directing PRECIOUS four years later. Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding Jr play mismatched stepmum & stepson lovers and contract killers, Mo'Nique and Joseph Gorden-Levitt… More
A curiosity of a film by Lee Daniels sandwiched between producing MONSTERS BALL four years earlier and directing PRECIOUS four years later. Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding Jr play mismatched stepmum & stepson lovers and contract killers, Mo'Nique and Joseph Gorden-Levitt play mis-matched lovers and squabblers, and Macy Gray plays being mighty cross when her best friend vanishes. You''ll either really enjoy this or think its a pile of tosh.
Daniel P

Cuba Gooding Jr. and Helen Mirren as a pair of romantically involved contract killers sounds like a high concept if ever there was one, but, stunt casting aside, the story itself is nothing spectacularly original. It helps to know as little as possible about this film since the plot… More
Cuba Gooding Jr. and Helen Mirren as a pair of romantically involved contract killers sounds like a high concept if ever there was one, but, stunt casting aside, the story itself is nothing spectacularly original. It helps to know as little as possible about this film since the plot trajectory itself is quite easy to work out; too much synopsis would reveal some of the twists (and by the way, don't even think about watching the trailer first as it's far too heavy on revelations). Suffice it to say that it's, surprisingly, the casting itself that elevates this assassin flick out of the ordinary. Mirren is reliably superb as ever, even with a dodgy accent, and in addition there's good value in Dorff's charismatic baddie, a scene-stealing Mo'Nique, a bizarre but enjoyable bit from Macy Gray and even another excellent role for Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Acting aside, there's a lot of interesting and/or disturbing stuff that you'd never find in a mainstream Hollywood product: realistic sex scenes (an aborted sex scene, squelchy sex noises), death by pool cue and a cross-dressing Gooding Jr. are just some of the unexpected developments. Worth a rental, certainly.
William G

Clumsy, gaudy, but never boring.
Brian R

Omg...what the hell did I just watch? This movie is worthless and clearly without a doubt sucks. Not one of Lee Daniels best. If I were Daniels I'd be embarressed if given the oppertunity to direct this harmful, toxic waste of a picture.
Remi L

Soooo bad. Though Cuba Gooding Jr did make for a convincing badass, the sex was just gratuitous, it was just. All. Bad. Even WITH Joseph Gordon-Levitt in it!
Marisol M

Strange bedfellows aside, the story has so many bizarre elements it's distracting. Certainly a unique movie, just in all the wrong ways.
Chosen 7

Good film, great acting.
Kevin M

This was so good, I watched it twice in the same day. I was very impressed with Gooding, Gordon-Levitt and Dorff since their characters played wildly significant roles, and had great scenes to play out. An awkward sex scene featuring Gooding and Mirren was almost difficult to watch.… More
This was so good, I watched it twice in the same day. I was very impressed with Gooding, Gordon-Levitt and Dorff since their characters played wildly significant roles, and had great scenes to play out. An awkward sex scene featuring Gooding and Mirren was almost difficult to watch. The final standoff was well-resolved, finally showing the true nature of Gooding's character.
Laurence C

Set to a superb orchestral score, Shadowboxer delivers its message on 'violence-in-our-genes' with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, but its unusual tendency to dig into its character's bizarre psychology sets it apart from the other countless thrillers with a similar… More
Set to a superb orchestral score, Shadowboxer delivers its message on 'violence-in-our-genes' with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, but its unusual tendency to dig into its character's bizarre psychology sets it apart from the other countless thrillers with a similar premise. Also, Helen Mirren once again continues in her delivery of a string of excellent performances.