Shadow Dancer

`Is this just because she has a pretty face?'
SHADOW DANCER (definition: a dance presented by casting shadows of dancers on a screen) is another film about the conflicts of the IRA during the 1990s. Despite the fact that the theme is a recurring one in films, the core meaning of the conflict remains a bewildering mystery to those not living in Ireland or in England, and that is what makes this film fall short of being excellent - there is much significant information that is not shared with the audience as though we all understand fully both sides of the conflict well enough to muddle through the outlines of the plot that are presented. Tom Brady wrote screenplay based on his own novel and even director James Marsh can't seem to iron it out into a comprehensible story.

The film opens in 1973 in Belfast when young Collette (Maria Laird) is asked by her father to run an errand but she is far more interested in making bead necklaces so she sends her younger brother Sean (Ben Smyth) who is killed outside their home. Jump...

Good spy film
I was reluctant to watch one more movie on IRA. Trust me, almost movies based on Irish revolt were good. But, I think I've had enough.

Personally, I prefer "Five Minutes of Heaven".

This movie, like Five Minutes of Heaven, uses the North Ireland civil war only as a background to convey a much more darker story.

The film is shot with simple means without any frills and above all without ANY product placements.

Which is in itself very noble of the director.

REAL MOVIE NEWS REVIEW
I am always pleasantly surprised to find a film take the unexpected narrative route, especially with the large number of films I have seen in my decreasingly brief existence. Shadow Dancer had me thinking I knew what was going to happen at several points, only to take me in another direction. The result was not quite as satisfying as I had hoped, however. This is largely due to the fact that the audience is not permitted to know what the characters are thinking, and often it appears as though they are also uncertain. The result is some spectacular acting from leads Andrea Riseborough and Clive Owen, who are forced to convey much without words beings said, and a coldly distant narrative which never fully allows the audience to care for them.

Set in 1990s, Shadow Dancer opens in London with an aborted IRA terrorist attack by our troubled protagonist, Collette (Riseborough). Although Collette intentionally neglects to activate the bomb and seems more entangled in the IRA...

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