Shadow Dancer

[Snowwhite]

also saw this yesterday and wasnt very impressed, was expecting a bit more from the film and thought it also would be better suited for a tv series but it was still a fairly good film

5/10

[ejwrank]

We were also at The Mayfair Hotel yesterday. I have never before left before a Q & A but I was one of those who left after the film. The reason was simple -- I didn't much like the film. I thought the script was poor so really didn't want to hear the Q & A with the script writer/author. Plus I have been to a number of Q & As where the person asking the questions seemed more intent on showing how clever s/he was, rather than actually listening to the person s/he was interviewing! So we really weren't being rude, TimWarlow, and some of us have put in some time at Q & As over the years. I hesistated before leaving but thought it best to leave when there was a proper break rather than during the Q & A as some people have done in the past which really is rude!

I was very disappointed with the film. It was hyped as a thriller but it was anything but. It was so plodding and I thought much of the cast were wasted on poorly drawn characters and script.

[LondonCityNights]

I was at the Q&A last night, I've written up my thoughts in full here:

http://londoncitynights.blogspot.co.uk/ ... james.html

I liked it, although I thought "draining" the film of politics was an interesting choice. Annoyingly, someone kept checking their mobile phone and sending texts right in front of me, which was a bit inconsiderate.

[fetta]

Thanks mrflunchy! I enjoyed your review and quite agree with it. I loved the film and was totally engrossed by the human dilemma. What spoiled the experience and probably the film for me was the Q&A with Tom Bradby. I found him quite a shallow and self-loving being. The way he kept referring to the conflict as fascinating over and over again, then there were self comparisons to Shakspere and Tom Stoppard and film comparisons with The Life Of Others. I just felt embarrassed to be lessening to him do on and on. Thank god for James Marsh. It must have been hard work working with Tom

deep discussions until 2 hours prior to shooting

and still produce a film worth seeing.
7.5/10

[blondy]

This film is slow and mediocre - disappointed! 5/10

[Cortone]

I'm rather gobsmacked by the reviews that say this was slow, but this may be a generational thing. As diane65 details, for those who lived through the fear of the IRA attacks, life was tense, and often very frightening, even long after the 'troubles'.

No one ever knew where there would be bombings. Younger people could compare a little with London post 7/7 - I sat on the underground and looked at someone who had either a broom wrapped in brown paper, or .. it was it a rifle. And he was making eye contact with another passenger across the carriage, with a similar parcel... was it something, or nothing? That breads fear/tension, not just on a one-off occasion, but constantly. And anyone who lived through this would see this, and feel it, and be unlikely to forget it.

A good friend - and film fan - was deeply scarred by the 'troubles'. Imagine going shopping with your friends in a quiet market town as a teenager ... and seeing people you know blown up, or soldiers herding you out of an area, to who knows where, and to who knows what? And this was before mobile phones... The point was, you never knew what would happen, as the film shows.

I've not mentioned the film to the friend, because it would re-open old memories. This happens from time to time when someone makes a careless comment, but no one ever makes that mistake twice...