A direct-to-DVD crime movie that features a cast of mostly past-their-prime actors (along with Jamie Fox and Thandie Newton, who were on their ascension), Shade was released back in 2003 by Dimension films. The movie was written and directed by Damien Nieman, whose other credits include serving as a producer on the short-lived TV series The Takedown, a production for CourtTV that featured con artists hired by casinos in order to test their security. Shade, however, is yet another dilution of “film noir,” made by people who don't understand why films from creators like Jules Dassin work, depending too much on “clever” dialogue and a plot that's not nearly as complex as it makes out.
The movie stars Sylvester Stallone as Dean Stevens, a professional gambler and card sharp who was caught in a shootout years before because of his cheating ways and is trying to move forward with his life. We move forward to the present day where Charlie (Gabriel Byrne) and Tiffany (Thandie Newton) are running a low-rent scam involving diamond rings. They meet Larry (Jamie Foxx,) a poker player who's down on his luck and they create a scheme to build a soft game in which they graft ten to twenty thousand dollars off unsuspecting players. Larry brings Vernon (Stuart Townsend) into the scheme because of his experience at cheating.
Complications ensue, as they always do in a movie that starts out this simply, but, frankly, there's too much of Quentin Tarantino and not enough of their filmmaker's own story in this. Multiple flashbacks are shown, shot in a way that smacks of the re-enactments on America's Most Wanted and it's obvious that Nieman doesn't have confidence in his own characters to actually focus on their present circumstances, instead showing off bits like Tiffany seducing a man so his organs to be sold to let us know that she's cold-hearted and so on.
The thing is, even with the overblown direction and needlessly complicated plot, the poker action in Shade is really quite good. The $2,000,000 cash game is handled very well and for poker players, there's actually quite a few good “I wonder if…” moments. There's definitely a lot of credit to be given to Sylvester Stallone, who's a much better actor than he seems to want to admit. The original First Blood and Copland both prove he's got chops and he manages to incorporate a lot of tiny things into his role that help sell it more. For instance, the oil we see him applying to his hands in multiple scenes is actually something that many professional magicians and card sharps do to help them manipulate cards, and there are moments during the poker game where it doesn't feel like he's acting as much as really playing. Add in the deadpan comedy that he's capable of and you've got a great performance in a mediocre film.
Overall, Shade is worth watching for the poker and some of the performances, especially Stallone's, but the overall feel is close to movies like Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead: a movie made by someone who loves movies, but doesn't know how to make a good one.
