Shade (2003/I)

Director:

Damian Nieman

Writer (WGA):

Damian Nieman (written by)

Release Date:

12 March 2004 (Thailand)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Look Deeper.

Plot:

Shade is set in the world of poker hustlers working the clubs and martini bars of Los Angeles. The tale...

Plot Keywords:

Poker | Card Playing | Big Con | Organized Crime | Magician

Cast

Joe Nicolo	...	Ritchie
Carl Mazzocone Sr.	...	Older Wiseguy (as Carl M. Mazzocone, Sr.)
George Tovar	...	Paulie
Frank Medrano	...	Sal
Jason Cerbone	...	Young Dean Stevens
Mark De Alessandro	...	Hitman #1
Doc Duhame	...	Hitman #2
Shane T. Anderson	...	Hitman #3
Thandie Newton	...	Tiffany
Glenn Plummer	...	Gas Station Attendant
Gabriel Byrne	...	Charlie Miller
Mick Rossi	...	Club Patron #1
Sean Stanek	...	Club Patron #2
Holly Catarancuic	...	Girl in Hallway
Carl Mazzocone	...	Doorman

MPAA:

Rated R for language, violence and sexuality/nudity.

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:16 (DVD rating) | Iceland:12 | South Korea:15 | Finland:K-15 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Singapore:NC-16 | USA:R | Germany:16 | Spain:13

Filming Locations:

Deep Nightclub - 1707 N. Vine Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Cobalt Media Group

Trivia:

The book shown throughout the movie, "The Expert at the Card Table" by S.W. Erdnase, is known as the "Cardman's Bible". Originally published in 1902 for cheating purposes, it is still considered the best book on card manipulation. It is a quote of Erdnase which is shown onscreen as the film begins.

Goofs:

Continuity: When driving the Jaguar XK8 the inside shot shows the seats with no headrests. In next shot headrests are on their places.

Quotes:

Marlo: Excuse me, I'm vibrating.

Movie Connections:

References House of Games (1987)

Soundtrack:

Goldberg Variations, BWV.988

A shade better than expected.

As movies about card games and/or con artists go, "Shade" is no "House Of Games" or "Nine Queens", but it's better than you might expect for a film that was barely released theatrically. The first two twists caught me completely off-guard (the final twist though....I saw it coming a few seconds before it happened). The poker scenes are highly entertaining (where can I get one of those "juiced" decks?). There are many good performances (Townsend, Foxx, Byrne), and nice turns by veterans (Hal Holbrook, Bo Hopkins). The weak links are Stallone and Melanie Griffith, who look awful in this film. Stallone's performance isn't bad, but they could easily have replaced him with an actor more appropriate for this role; Griffith IS bad, and it's hard to know what she's even doing in the picture. An actor who stands out (in a good way) is Roger G. Smith as Marlo, the mob enforcer with the extremely calm voice. (**1/2)