By Forris Day Jr.
“Shadow Dancer” is a respectable spy thriller. Loaded with extraordinary shots of Ireland and top notch acting. I enjoyed this fascinating film very much. I like this type of story where you have to try to figure out how the pieces of the puzzle fit together as the movie plays out. It has some great twists and turns to throw you off and that makes it fun to watch.
The main character is a single mother named Collette McVeigh. She is involved in the IRA. She is an unlikely terrorist but one nonetheless. Her entire family is involved in bombings of public locations and assassinations, with her brother leading the group. When Collette is arrested by an M15 officer, played by Clive Owen, she is given a tough choice. Go to jail and risk never seeing her son again or spy on her brother and report back. She chooses to spy but when her brother’s attempt to assassinate a politician is foiled by a surprise ambush the stakes get higher and fingers are pointed. Now she and her entire family are targets as the ruthless killers try to discover who leaked the plot to the police.
Although I felt the story moved too slowly at times it is indeed a well written narrative. A great deal of effort was put into the cinematography. Well composed shots that added interest but at times slowed the story as they gave us time to take it all in. Not a complaint, just an observation, because I really think the cinematography is some of the best I’ve seen. I just would have liked to seen the story move along at a brisker pace.
I watched the Bluray version and I recommend it over the DVD version so that you can really enjoy the picture quality that these folks obviously obsessed about. This is true of most movies but in particular of ones such as “Shadow Dancer” where the imagery is a huge part of the story. The Bluray has a few special features including “Behind the scenes”, “Cast and Crew Interviews” and a short feature that talks about the film in general. Bottom line, “I recommend “Shadow Dancer” if you enjoy a good thriller.
Rating: 8/10 – “Who’s watching who?”
