Shadowboxer (2005)

Director:

Lee Daniels

Writer (WGA):

William Lipz (written by)

Release Date:

14 July 2006 (Italy)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Feeling Protected Is Very Seductive

Plot:

When Rose, a female assassin, is diagnosed with terminal cancer; she decides to carry out one final killing, assisted by lover and also stepson, Mickey. |

Plot Keywords:

Female Masturbation | Poison | Shot In The Head | Terminal Illness | Hired Killer

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Cuba Gooding Jr.	...	Mikey
Helen Mirren	...	Rose
Vanessa Ferlito	...	Vicki
Macy Gray	...	Neisha
Joseph Gordon-Levitt	...	Dr. Don
Mo'Nique	...	Precious
Stephen Dorff	...	Clayton Mayfield
Matt Higgins	...	Eddie
Tom Pasch	...	Andrew
Ryan Eric Speise	...	Anthony - Age 3
Cullen Flynn Clancy	...	Anthony - age 7 (as Cullen Clancy)
Marilyn Yoblick	...	Real Estate Agent
Darnell Williams	...	Mikey's Father
Marvina Vinique	...	Mikey's Mother (as Marvina Vinque)
John Panzarella	...	Man in Hotel (as Johnny Panzarella)
Shaun Brewington	...	Little Mikey
Jack Krizmanich	...	Tommy
Noel Murano	...	A.J.
Tomy Dunster	...	Gerard
Angel Oquendo	...	Lamar
Ryan Sands	...	Ramone
Stacey Stein	...	Woman Patient (as Stacia Stein)
Greg Schmidt	...	Professor
Wendy Baron	...	Young Rose
Rickey Max Baldwin	...	Man in Shower
Maria Soccor	...	Clayton's Girlfriend
Terria Joseph	...	Gwen
Aunt Dot	...	Janitor
Lee Daniels	...	Man in Steam Room
Christopher Gladstone Booth	...	Man in Steam Room
Keith Butler	...	Man in Steam Room
Robert Tyler	...	Man in Steam Room (as Rob L. Tyler)
Rob L. Tyler	...	Man in Steam Room
Will Rokos	...	Ace
Rosa Evans	...	School Aide
Patrick McDade	...	Man In Bar
Marla Green	...	Woman In Bar
Jessica Hoskins	...	Jessie, Special Lady at Bar
Ken Harris	...	Dru
Chazz Menendez	...	J.J.
Gerry Lenfest	...	Man in Lobby
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alex Avant	...	Man in Lobby (uncredited)
Van Cameron	...	Train Commuter (uncredited)
Scott Hatfield	...	Agitated Train Commuter (uncredited)
Rick Kain	...	Gay Man in Lobby (uncredited)
Atif Lanier	...	The Hand (uncredited)
Mark Simms	...	Mobster (uncredited)
David Von Roehm	...	Broker in Park (uncredited)
Scott Yannick	...	Train Commuter (uncredited)
Julia Yorks	...	Angela (uncredited)

Directed by
Lee Daniels

Writing credits (WGA)
William Lipz		(written by)

Produced by
Marvet Britto	....	co-executive producer
Lisa Cortes	....	producer
Lee Daniels	....	producer
Damon Dash	....	producer
Thomas Fatone	....	associate producer
Valerie Hoffman	....	co-producer
Brook Lenfest	....	producer
Chase Lenfest	....	associate producer
Dawn Lenfest	....	executive producer
Doreen S. Oliver-Akinnuoye	....	associate producer
Sharon Pinkenson	....	co-executive producer
Dave Robinson	....	producer
Simone Sheffield	....	co-producer
Tucker Tooley	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Mario Grigorov

Cinematography by
M. David Mullen

Film Editing by
William Chang
Brian A. Kates

Casting by
Kerry Barden
Leah Daniels
Diane Heery
Billy Hopkins
Suzanne Smith

Production Design by
Steve Saklad

Art Direction by
Tim Galvin

Set Decoration by
Chryss Hionis

Makeup Department
Brian Badie	....	department head hair stylist
Barney Burman	....	special makeup effects artist: Proteus FX Team
Joseph Farulla	....	key makeup artist
Kelly Gleason	....	makeup department head
Erin Hicks	....	assistant hair stylist
Jaqueline Noel	....	hair stylist
Steve Prouty	....	special makeup effects artist: Proteus Makeup Effects

Production Management
Ken Halsband	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Nana Ashong	....	first assistant director: second unit
Colleen Casey	....	second second assistant director
Thomas Fatone	....	first assistant director
Patrick Gibbons	....	second assistant director
James Guerriero	....	second unit director
Kim Thompson	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Meghan Keener	....	art department coordinator
Terren Lin	....	intern
Jolie Scherberger	....	set dresser
Charles J. Scott	....	assistant property master
Stephen Siersema	....	camera scenic
R. Vincent Smith	....	property master
Billy Stearne	....	set dresser
Nell Stifel	....	charge scenic
Bruce Sumerfield	....	set decoration buyer

Sound Department
Jamie Baker	....	foley editor
Benjamin Cheah	....	sound re-recording mixer
Benjamin Cheah	....	supervising sound editor
Eve Cohen	....	sound
Marko A. Costanzo	....	foley artist
Scott Edelson	....	boom operator
Sean Garnhart	....	sound effects editor
Paul Hsu	....	sound effects editor
Debora Lilavois	....	assistant sound
Branka Mrkic	....	dialogue editor
Mike Poppleton	....	foley editor
Greg Steele	....	adr mixer
Sara Stern	....	apprentice sound editor
Thomas Varga	....	sound mixer
Larry Wineland	....	sound effects editor

Visual Effects by
Ted Devlin	....	visual effects artist
Kevin Fanning	....	visual effects supervisor
Thomas Evan Jones	....	digital compositor

Stunts
John Copeman	....	utility stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
James 'Keeper' Auld	....	grip
David Brandon	....	electrician
Sheridan Braxton	....	grip
Mark Catania	....	dolly grip
Daniel C. Cook	....	assistant camera
Brad Heiner	....	key grip
Kevin Janicelli	....	gaffer
Gregory F. Johnson	....	rigging grip: Philadelphia
Michael Asa Leonard	....	first assistant camera
William Louthe	....	electrician
Richard A. Mitchell	....	electrician
Jerad Molkenthin	....	daily electrician
Christopher Murphy	....	digital video assist operator
Ben Noble	....	best boy electric
Paul Owens	....	documentary videographer
Leon Sanginiti	....	second assistant camera
Daniel D. Sariano	....	assistant camera
Asif Siddiky	....	documentary videographer
David Taicher	....	camera operator: "a" camera
David Taicher	....	steadicam operator
William Rick Young	....	best boy grip

Casting Department
Jason Loftus	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Barbara Hause	....	wardrobe supervisor
Kara Morasco	....	tailor
Elizabeth Solomon	....	wardrobe production assistant
Vivienne Westwood	....	costumes: Cuba Gooding Jr., Helen Mirren and Vanessa Ferlito

Editorial Department
Janet Falcon	....	digital film colorist
Rob Graham	....	editorial assistant
Jennifer Hunt	....	post-production coordinator
Thomas Evan Jones	....	editorial assistant
Scott Markowitz	....	editorial assistant
Victoria Matthews	....	post-production coordinator
Robert Pyle	....	post-production engineer
Nik Rogers	....	editorial assistant
Marin Sander-Holzman	....	assistant editor
John-Michael Trojan	....	post-production coordinator
Mark Wawrzenski	....	editorial assistant
Steve Wheelock	....	editorial assistant

Music Department
A.J. Azzarto	....	music supervisor
Brian A. Kates	....	music editor
A.J. Lambert	....	music supervisor

Transportation Department
Gregory J. Cimino	....	set dresser truck driver
John Morrone III	....	transportation coordinator
John Suttles	....	driver

Other crew
Carol A. Compton	....	script clearance
Joseph Conroy	....	production assistant
Benjamin Davidow	....	production assistant
Anthony DeFrancesco	....	set production assistant
Shelly Earl	....	animal wrangler
Deborah Evans	....	production accountant
Mark Farkas	....	conforming and compositing supervisor
Sen. Brant Feldman	....	assistant: Cuba Gooding Jr.
Anne E. Fitzgibbons	....	client services manager
Luis Garcia	....	intern
Benjamin Goldberg	....	production coordinator
Jonathan Gray	....	production counsel
Vanessa Gutin	....	production secretary
Staci Hagenbaugh	....	assistant location manager
Steven Holtzman	....	first assistant accountant
Asger Hussain	....	assistant: Ms. Cortes and Mr. Robinson
Honora Jackson	....	production assistant
Medha Jaishankar	....	production assistant
Kathleen Kelly	....	key medic
Monique LaMontagne	....	location manager
Robert Lovejoy	....	senior datacine operator
Bob Lowery	....	post account manager
Melissa D. Madison	....	stand-in
Kris Magyarits	....	title designer: main titles
Tom Martin	....	key set production assistant
Megan McNichol	....	set production assistant
Anthony Pettine	....	script supervisor
Sharon Pinkenson	....	film commissioner
David Raynor	....	assistant production coordinator
Guillaume Renberg	....	remote head technician
Brad Robinson	....	set production assistant
Jon Rocks	....	production assistant
Gregory Santoro	....	intern
Bob Schachner	....	loop group engineer
Brian Scheeler	....	set production assistant
Jamie Schenk	....	client services
Christopher Sneade	....	production assistant
Ian M. Stratford	....	production counsel
Alexis Danielle Treadwell	....	production assistant intern
Chad Wheeler	....	set production assistant
David Wittlin	....	set intern
Matt Wolford	....	datacine operator
Billy Wood	....	conforming fire editor
Natalie Yacono	....	assistant to director
Derek Yip	....	additional post-production accountant
Andrew Young	....	dubs and engineering: Shooters Post & Transfer
Paul Young	....	production assistant
Dan Zarenkiewicz	....	production assistant
Elizabeth Cline	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Thanks
Justin Wineburgh	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Lee Daniels Entertainment
• Shadowboxer LLC

Distributors

• Acteurs Auteurs Associés (AAA) (2007) (France) (all media)
• Audiovisual (2005) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Codeblack Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Eurocine Films (2006) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Freestyle Releasing (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• Front Row Entertainment (2005) (United Arab Emirates) (theatrical)
• Gativideo (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2006) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Imagem Filmes (2005) (Brazil) (theatrical)
• Imagem Filmes (2007) (Brazil) (DVD)
• LNK Filmes (2005) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Ledafilms (2005) (Paraguay) (theatrical)
• Luxor Entertainment (2005) (Russia) (theatrical)
• RCV Film Distribution (2005) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• RCV Home Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2005) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2007) (Germany) (DVD)
• Taki Corporation (2007) (Japan) (DVD)
• VVS Films (2006) (Canada) (all media)
• Videoville Showtime (2006) (Canada) (theatrical)

Special Effects

• Shooters Post and Transfer (titles and effects)

Other Companies

• All-Star Animals  animal handlers
• Fat Dot  publicity
• IndieClear  script clearance
• Jeremy Walker + Associates  publicity
• Post Factory NY  post-production facilities
• Shooters Post and Transfer  color correction
• Shooters Post and Transfer  digital intermediate
• Shooters Post and Transfer  post-production facilities
• Sonic Magic  adr recording

MPAA:

Rated R for strong graphic violence and sexuality, nudity, language and some drug use.

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Italy:VM14 | UK:18 | Brazil:18 | Australia:MA | New Zealand:R18 | Germany:16 | Argentina:18 | USA:R | Finland:K-15 | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Collegeville, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Lee Daniels Entertainment

Trivia:

Michael Biehn was offered a role in the movie, but turned it down.

Quotes:

Rose: [to Vicki] Feeling protected is very seductive.

Movie Connections:

Features Valley of the Dolls (1967)

Mr. Black's Grade: B

Shadowboxer Mr. Black's Grade: B Starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Helen Mirren.

First-time director Lee Daniels, producer of two challenging projects, Monster's Ball and The Woodsman tries his hand behind the lens. Mirren plays a female assassin who is diagnosed with cancer, and decides to carry out a final killing assisted by Gooding.

Shadowboxer certainly is a dark film - think Prizzi's Honor but with a very different tone - but Helen Mirren handles this 'unique' relationship with tenderness and dignity. I thought the ending wasn't terribly suspenseful, and it should have been. I kept trying picture how a different, and more experienced director would handle it. A number of crew members were there for the Q/A, including the director. Heck, even a PA came in from Philly (you keener!) Wes Bentley was scheduled to co-star but dropped out.

His role was filled by Cuba Gooding Jr., who succeeded in erasing Snow Dogs from my memory. He is very good here, playing it straight and very cold. In the Q/A afterwards he talked about the differences between doing comedy and drama. He said that he is pursuing roles that allow humor to come from the actions of the character - like in this film - and not obvious comedy. He enjoyed the laughter that his character got from the crowd at the screening, when his character was reacting to situations within the plot and not 'trying' to be funny.