6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
The hand is quicker than the eye in LA's underground gambling scene, hustlers get hustled and fortunes ride on every deal. Three small-time grifters devise a plan to beat the ultimate card mechanic - The Dean. But a seat at The Dean's table doesn't come cheap. Stuart Townsend (Queen of the Damned), Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects), Thandie Newton (Mission: Impossible II), Jamie Foxx (Any Given Sunday), Melanie Griffith (Crazy in Alabama) and Sylvester Stallone (Cop Land) star in this stylish film where quick maneuvers and shady alliances keep you guessing until the last hand is revealed.
Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Jamie Foxx, Sylvester Stallone, Thandiwe Newton, Stuart TownsendThriller | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.36:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: LPCM 2.0
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
English SDH, French
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Shade is one of those films where some fans may see a rather eclectic and notable cast list (including Gabriel Bryne, Sylvester Stallone, Jamie Foxx, Hal Holbrook, Melanie Griffith, Thandie Newton, Stuart Townsend and Dina Merrill, to name a few), find out that the film is a labyrinthine caper involving a bunch of card sharks with plotting that resembles well remembered efforts like The Grifters and The Sting, and then wonder, “Why have I never heard of this?” That lack of recognition may be due as much to the vagaries of show business as much as anything else (the film may have gotten waylaid by troubles surrounding the decline of RKO Pictures), though the film does leave a lingering “it could have been better” feeling after the final grift reveals who’s been playing whom. Writer and director Damian Nieman is evidently a card shark himself, and so some of the “tricks” in the film will be kind of cool for those who like “up close and personal” quasi-magic (a lot of the film takes place in Los Angeles’ legendary Magic Castle), but the underlying plot dynamics are arguably a bit too frayed to ever completely register and deliver the kind of “wow” moment that those getting to the end of The Sting for the first time might feel.
Shade is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Marquee Collection, an imprint of MVD Visual, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.36:1. This presentation is frequently kind of roughhewn and even splotchy looking, something probably exacerbated by a higher than average number of optical dissolves, with detail levels being variable at times, often as a result of some widely variant lighting conditions. The whole opening flashback is bathed in a kind of weird blue tone, some of which struck me as looking at least partially being due to some fading, which is evident in other, less artificial looking, moments as well. The kind of mottled looking quality to the imagery can be spotted in several of the screenshots accompanying this review, and it can tend to make things look somewhat soft at times, even in close-ups. There does not appear to have been any significant restoration done, as evidenced by quite a few (and sometimes kind of odd looking) blemishes that dot the proceedings with fair regularity. The palette does look decently warm quite a bit of the time, and elements like a bright purple dress that Thandie Newton wears pop with a fair amount of vividness. My score is 3.25.
Shade features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 tracks. Both tracks offer excellent fidelity, but the 5.1 track features some nice opening up of the soundstage in some of the big set pieces where a surprising amount of surround activity is garnered from something as "mundane" as poker players sitting around a table. A couple of other showier sequences, including a big tracking shot following Gabriel Byrne making his way through a nightclub are significantly more spacious in the surround mix. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout.
Shade benefits from an at least somewhat unusual setting and some really nicely nuanced performances, but it may try to stuff one too many grifts into its wending story. While probably not as completely mind blowing as it's obviously aiming to be, this is still a rather invigorating effort at times from Damian Nieman, and I was kind of surprised (shocked, actually) to see this is his only feature film credit as writer and/or director. This cast certainly offers a wide variety of notable names, and fans of any or all of the actors in this production may well enjoy at least parts of this tale. Video is occasionally problematic, but audio is fine, and the supplements enjoyable for those considering a purchase.
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