review time.. Shade
Shade.. a tale of card sharks
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0323939/
this was another movie I picked up without ever having heard of it and its cast is a respectable asortment including Gabriel Byrnes..
it starts off focused in on some incrediably sweet card moves..
no camera tricks..
no digital effects..
just amazing ability to make the cards dance..
its a good start up to the movie itself.
misdirection to misdirection..
hustle to hustle..
story into story..
and you have to keep this all in mind as the story unfolds..
or how you think it unfolds.
the first game has Jamie Foxx playing texas hold 'em.. he goes all in and doesn't win till the last card..
he cheers gleefully and his home boy high fives him for outwitting his opponent. this is not skill, this is luck. a true card player doesn't rely on luck, luck is fickle and fleeting.. skill is not.
a hot chick then sits on his lap and brings him down to meet with Gabriel and he is told of a special card game. Jamie has a chance to get in on some fast cash if he is willing to pony up the starting funds. they quibble, since it is obvious that Jamie is no
dummy.. he is smart.. he is from the streetz..
yes, thats right, streets with a 'z'.. he is hardcore.
while they talk the hot chick wanders off, cause that is guy talk and she is just dainty arm candy. She runs into a schmo at the bar, and in starts another sub-plot, she warns him to back off or else she will do something nasty to him. He admits that he is intrigued and interested in the mean nasty thing she vowed to do, and he wasn't alone.. it was pretty hot. She tells him to wait there for her, and he does.
We then focus in on a casino where a dealer is just starting up a new set of decks. In the background two walking skank bags get into a fight, and since they are walking skank bags the tops get ripped off and the nipple mounts go a flyin.. the security guards are of course riveted as they send in some ground pounders. If you had thought this was a diversion.. you would be right. As the two women fought the decks were switched out and a patron gets the table stakes raised..
40 grand for 30 mins work.. the two skank bags were in on it, as were the boyfriends, the dealer, and a couple other random guys. As the dealer (who is one of the main characters) leaves a group of kids go trudging by and the dealer mumbles ' man, I wish the mob still ran this town' he valet agrees with a chuckle..
we then are brought back into the main storyline (or are we) where the dealer (not a professional card shark or 'mechanic' as they call him) is toying around with a deck.
Again, no cgi.. no fakery.. they brought in an actual 'mechanic' to teach him a few moves and then the actor practiced obsessively.. even the mechanic was impressed.
The movie was mostly filmed in and around Hollywood and some magicians castle thing.. the background extras are littered with professional card sharks, stage magicians, ans slight-of-hand artists. This tidbit might not be incrediably interesting, or even noticable, to most people, but to those that 'know' it is a good insight. The director/writer was a fan.. is a fan of professional card tricks.
Every card trick in the movie is real.. none are faked. It is this honesty that truly highlights the movie. With many movies based around games and trickery.. there remains that element of bullshit. As the movie progresses you come to learn that EVERYTHING is a set up..
EVERYONE is in on it except the mark..
now, who is the mark?
once you figure out who the mark is.. you come to find out that he wasn't the mark?
it becomes even more complicated
faking out the mark is a slow deal. they build up to it. they reel him in..
an excellent movie.. one of the best movies of this type I have ever seen.
what I revealed won't ruin the movie, so I won't say anymore. I can't recall which came out first.. Shade or Rounders.. but they deal with different aspects of card games.. Rounders, another unbelievably excellent film, deals with your basic card shark..
Shade deals with a much higher level of scam artist..
the movie is a wonderful flow from one scam to another.. from one con to another..
one underhanded deal to another
I especially like what happens to the schmuck in the bar..
another cool addition.. all the cards are 'real' and 'authentic'
many are antiques and relics from years ago that are lusted after by card afficienados..
again, not a 'huge' thing for the regular movie watcher, but its an awesome background effect..
those tidbits thrown in by true lovers of what they are doing.
this movie could easily be a 5 out of 5.. but I think I gave it a 4 out 5 for no other reason than I dislike giving out very many 5 out of 5's... and the number of cameos, while interesting, did detract slightly from the movie since they had the acting ability of carp
even as the credits roll, they refocus on expert card moves. with the dvd extras (if I remember correctly) they even explain some of them. the first time I saw it, I would have SWORN it was all fake... digitally retouched.. but as in the opening.. its real
which is one reason why I never play cards..
I have neither the luck to win the random hand,
nor the skill to properly cheat a win
Nix