Movie Review

Shadowboxer (2006)

Reviewed by Owen Gleiberman | Jul 26, 2006

Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman is a film critic for EW

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EW's GRADE

Details Limited Release: Jul 21, 2006; Rated: R; Length: 93 Minutes; Genre: Drama; With: Cuba Gooding Jr. and Helen Mirren

Image credit: Shadowboxer: David Lee

WATCH YOUR STEP Family relations can be murder in Shadowboxing, revolving around hitwoman Mirren and stepson/lover Gooding

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It doesn't take long to figure out that Shadowboxer 's Helen Mirren, as a cancer-ridden hitwoman, and Cuba Gooding Jr., as her doting stepson, are the most unconvincing team of hired assassins in movie history. Before long, they rescue, rather than kill, the wife and baby of a torture-happy gangster (Stephen Dorff, licking the scenery), but it isn't until later, when this brutally incoherent thriller descends into porny sex between Mirren and Gooding — that's right, May-December interracial quasi-incest! — that you realize it's smashing taboos in a way that just renders them more taboo.

Originally posted Jul 26, 2006 Published in issue #889 Aug 04, 2006 Order article reprints

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