Leofwine_draca SHINER is one of those movies which seems to have been rushed into production in the wake of the success of the Guy Ritchie hits LOCK, STOCK, AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS and SNATCH. It stars Michael Caine as a down-on-his-luck boxing promoter desperate for one last win, a man who finds himself on a wrong side of a number of enemies he's ended up crossing during the course of the movie.For a British film, the cast is second to none. Caine gives a faultless and sympathetic performance in the leading role, despite the deficits of his character. Kenneth Cranham shows up in a rather shrill role, and there's a meaty party for a youthful, pre-fame Andy Serkis. Martin Landau is the barely-glimpsed American import, Matthew Marsden (RAMBO) plays Caine's son, and the reliable Danny Webb (ALIEN 3) is on hand as a slimy lawyer.The narrative is fast-paced, certainly, but also loaded with many, many plot holes. It's one of those films that makes sense on the surface but which makes no sense if you actually stop to think about it. Characters do things just to service the plot and none of it is even remotely realistic. It's a pity, because with better writing and direction, this could and should have been up there with the best this genre has to offer; as it stands, it's a bit of a mess.

Boba_Fett1138 No, this by no means is the most dreadful movie I have ever seen, not even by a mile but it also is however a movie that made a totally pointless and not lasting impression on me.Perhaps the biggest problem of this movie is that it can't decide what it wants to be. Its story and somewhat its storytelling is obviously inspired by the first 'new age' British gangster flick "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" but yet the movie also has the rawness and more seriousness of the '70's British gangster flicks, such as for instance "Get Carter", which not entirely coincidently so also stars Michael Caine. The movie just doesn't know to create a well enough balance between its comedy and violence/crime because of this. Therefore the movie simply does not work out.The story is all over the place because of it that it tries to be clever, while in fact it really isn't. The plot twists, such as the one at the end, feel more weak and ridicules, rather than surprising. Also most characters really don't work out within the movie, due to its approach. For instance what's the point of having Oscar-winner Martin Landau in this if you don't know to use him properly.But I must say that the movie is still made watchable because of one simple reason; Michael Caine. It's a role that is very typical for him and that he suits so very well. He was good in those kind of roles 30 years ago and he's still good at it now. He plays a tough ruthless boxing promoter, with questionable motives and friends, who also happens to have a son who is on his way of becoming the next big man of boxing. An over ambitious proud father, with a shady past and present is a combination that of course calls for trouble. And trouble he gets within this movie. Do we care however? I don't think so. "Shiner" is a very uninvolved movie with a too weak script to let this movie ever rise above the level of average.A movie you can really easily do without.5/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

dpac89 While at the video store today, I took the time to read the back of "Shiner" and was intrigued.The front of the DVD box was a picture of Caine, on the ground, gun in hand, with a look of anger and resentment on his face, seemingly getting ready to shoot an unnamed enemy. The back of the box described the movie as an action-thriller, saying "But on the greatest, proudest day of his life, all that Shiner has worked for begins to unravel, sending him running from the police... and seeking revenge!" Needless to say, as an avid Michael Caine fan, I was enthusiastic about watching this movie.I was disappointed. For a movie allegedly about boxing and revenge, there was a surprising lack of boxing and revenge. It seemed to be more of a psychological movie, showing the degradation of Michael Caine's character and his willingness to do atrocious things in order to satisfy his own inflated ego (i.e threatening to kill an unborn child). Sure, Caine was certainly angry and looking for revenge, but the box promised action! Unless I'm mistaken, that means more than a 2 minute boxing scene, one minor fender bender and one minute at the END OF THE MOVIE when people actually attack each other.Not counting my original bias, I didn't find this movie to be very entertaining, either. While Caine was, of course, masterful in playing this role, the story itself simply was not interesting and had many unnecessary aspects. Just a few examples:How come the bad guy was someone who'd only been in the movie for 30 seconds prior to your finding out he's the bad guy? What exactly wasthe point of showing that Caine's bodyguard ended up killing Joe Mahoney, other than perhaps character development which was very unnecessary at that point? Why did they randomly flash the man with the baseball cap during the final scenes of the movie, when Caine was going to the roof of his building?What was the point of introducing the aspect of losing so much money if that had nothing to do with the motive, plot, or ending of the movie?I was unhappy with this movie, and would like my two hours back.

Ralvacast First off, this movie leaves you in a limbo mood wise. You don't know what to feel. So much so that you don't feel bad for Caines character when his son gets murdered (which was actually mostly due to bad editing). The script was too bland. None of the situations matter as you watch them. The soundtrack, or lack there of (if there was it wasn't good enough to even remember) does not help it one bit. Only good surprise to this movie was Andy Serkis' performance. It was on par if not better than Caine's. The story would have probably gone better off if Serkis would have killed him. Because quite frankly you don't feel any kind of redemption in the climax. Just a feeling of lack of feeling, if ya feel me. Basically this movie massively lacks draw. Leaving the audience alienated throughout the entire thing.