Review of Shade

Introduction

It`s always a pleasure to see someone get their comeuppance on screen, especially when it is the downfall of someone through his own greed, outwitted by the little guy. There was a vogue for movies like this back in the seventies, using the con or the hustle to great effect. Films like The Sting were great entertainment and with the recent remake of Ocean`s Eleven, there has been something of a renaissance of the genre. Ocean`s Twelve will soon be upon us, but if you are gripped by impatience, perhaps Shade can fulfil your needs.

Charlie Miller is a small time con artist operating in Los Angeles with his partner Tiffany. When former member of the group Vernon returns to town, the opportunity arises to make some serious cash cheating wealthy poker players. The thing is though, that Charlie, Tiffany and Vernon all have history together, and not all of it pleasant, and when they hustle a man out of some mob money, they are just creating more problems for themselves; all this to get into a game with legendary con artist the Dean, where the stakes are 2 million dollars. The problem is that no one is sure as to who is hustling whom.

Video

Shade comes with a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer. The image is clear enough, a little soft perhaps, and I did feel that skin tones were a little off. It`s certainly a colourful film, with plenty of strong shades and vibrant neons. There were moments that I felt that the reds were too strong, but this was more a stylistic choice rather than a problem with the transfer. However minor flecks of white throughout affected the print.

The film`s design was pretty good, with extra emphasis on the seedy underworld and the characters that inhabit it. Plenty of sharp suits and flimsy dresses.

Audio

The sound comes in DD 5.1 and DD 2.0 English, as well as DD 2.0 Spanish. Subtitles are available only for the main feature and again only in French. The sound is OK, it isn`t exactly a surround heavy film, but the dialogue is clear throughout, good considering the lack of English subtitles.

I wasn`t too impressed by the music though. Given that this is a film about hustles and hustlers, fast witty action, I felt that the music just wasn`t snappy enough. It did little to excite or move the story on, and indeed felt as if it was dragging the film to a halt.

Features

Being a Region 1 disc, there are a fair amount of extras on this disc, although most of it is the usual mundane EPK stuff.

First off, there are the Actor & Director interviews, which in total last 18 minutes. Interviewed are Stuart Townsend, Gabriel Byrne, Thandie Newton, Jamie Foxx, Melanie Griffith, Sylvester Stallone, director Damien Nieman and technical director Paul Wilson. These are short soundbite interviews that shed little light on the movie making process.

The Theatrical Trailer is joined by two featurettes. The Tricks Of The Trade featurette is a neat look at some of the card tricks used in the movie. After 15 minutes you too will be able to amaze and confound your friends. Perhaps. The Making Of Shade featurette lasts 8 minutes, and contrary to the title, there`s very little making of in it. If the interviews sound familiar, they`re the ones listed above, only you get to see scenes from the film over the voices of the interviewees.

Finally there is the Actor and Director Commentary. The actor in question is Stuart Townsend who plays Vernon in the film and the director is of course Damian Nieman. It`s a pretty competent commentary, pertinent and informative although the director does most of the talking. I also felt that it could have been a tad louder, as it was drowned out by the on screen action on occasion.

Conclusion

I think Shade wants to show the grittier side of the con game, the seedier side of the hustle, where things go wrong and instead of escaping from a sticky situation by the skin of his wits, the conman has to resort to violence to achieve his means. If this is supposed to reflect some kind of realism, then perhaps Shades has succeeded. Alas, it hasn`t succeeded elsewhere, as the film is pretty forgettable in every other respect.

None of the main characters is at all likeable and in a movie such as this, it helps to have someone to root for. But these are all intent on stabbing each other in the back, not worrying when the little guy gets conned. Again this is more realistic perhaps, but it doesn`t really do much for character development, especially when none of the characters are larger than life or really register. It`s as if none of the con men are really excited by what they do, there is no sense of relish when a con is about to be realised, and there was hardly any suspense built up as the movie progressed.

The film also took an age to really get going. It wasn`t helped by the judicious use of narrative devices like flashbacks and flashforwards, the disjointed narrative served more to put the brakes on the pacing rather than providing an `Oh Wow!` realisation for the audience. The prevalence of twists in contemporary cinema has resulted in savvier audiences, so that may have been a reason for the convoluted plot devices seen here, where no one is exactly who they seem to be, and nearly every moment is supposed to have one scratching their heads. Either the audience is drawn into the plot, or they are left not caring, and I`m afraid that it was a case of the latter for me.

I found myself fighting tedium half an hour in, and idly wondering how much quicker this film would be over with a 4% PAL speedup. The characters are weak, the dialogue uninspiring and the movie rehashes old themes to little effect. Even the BBC`s Hustle has done it better. The film`s conclusion is certainly enjoyable, and when the con is pulled off, it is a sweet payoff indeed. It`s just that the journey up to that point has been so numbing.