- Booze, betting and a botched job are making life hell for hit man Joe Ware (newcomer Rod Long.) With an unhinged bookie coming to collect, is Joe's mysterious benefactor the solution to all his problems or maybe the Devil himself?
- Synopsis:
Directed by Randy Sparks, "Rose Colored Shades" combines elements of gritty film no ire and dark comedy to tell the story of a self-destructive hit man who must choose between love and the lure of a mysterious stranger who would add to his body count. "Shades" is a hard-boiled tale of murder, mayhem and the merits of prescription eyeglasses, shot on location in Seattle and Tacoma in Washington's scenic Puget Sound region.
Lucky Joe Ware (newcomer Rod Long) is on a downward spiral fueled by booze and a stubborn penchant for betting on his hometown Seattle Mariners. Bookie Gabriel Samuelson (Don MacElis) is already fuming at the debt Joe has run up when the nearsighted assassin botches a job, shooting the wrong target and drawing unwanted attention to his criminal enterprise. With Gabriel's goons coming to collect, Joe turns to Michael (Doug Mackey) a cryptic figure who offers to pay what he owes. Joe takes the money despite being suspicious of his new benefactor's motives and his spooky awareness of his situation. He suspects he'll have to work for this odd stranger, but little does he realize his upcoming jobs will jeopardize his one shot at redemption.
Joe's on-again-off-again girlfriend is Lydia Anderson (Eleanor Ross) a local TV news reporter who is strongly guided by her faith. Lydia is oblivious to how Joe pays the bills, even as she reports from the bloody crime scenes he leaves behind. She loves him despite his drinking and tendency to show up when he needs to borrow money. She gives him an ultimatum: get his act together or lose her forever. A war between the unhinged Gabriel and the creepy Michael escalates, revealing there is more to them than meets the eye; and Joe finds himself having to choose between saving his soul and following the murderous path he's been on to its dismal end.
Randy Sparks presents "Rose Colored Shades," co-written with Rod Long; starring Rod Long, Doug Mackey, Don MacEllis, Eleanor Ross, Lindsey Hintz, Jason McKibbin, William Kane, Bob Bohan, Dave Graham, Nabil Debamna, Crystal Canales, Darry Small, Kris "Sonics Guy" Brannon, Jeremy Leveque, Joe Rosati, Melanie Raebyne, Bryan O'Neil, Brienne Decker, Johanna Gardner, Tonya M. Yorke and special guest appearance Ernest Harden Jr. "Shades" also features a cameo by Northwest garage-rock pioneer Buck Ormsby - of Fabulous Wailers and Etiquette Records fame - one of four of Sparks's friends that did not live to see the film completed.
~ Ernest Jasmin
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