Shiner (2000)

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.

Michael Caine plays very much to type in this film about a tough East-End boxing promoter. The film, which is not, it quickly becomes apparent, a sports movie (the only fight scene comes early and is deliberately anticlimactic), but it seems to be struggling to decide what exactly it is. In part, it is the story of the death of a dream; but in part, it is a thriller and these two parts don't really get on. The thriller element is weakened by the fact that because we only see the story of Caine's character's decline, we have no way to judge what malign forces may be behind it; but in fact, there is plenty of material to explain his fall without requiring a sinister plot, and so the thriller obscures the portrait of a man. In fact, the resulting hybrid is so anaemic as a whole that it almost feels stylised, I don't think intentionally, but there's a flatness that gives the movie a feel of its own, albeit not a successful one. Yet there are some interesting ideas behind the plot; it's a shame they're so poorly worked out.

"Shiner" is a gritty character-driven drama all about Caine as the title character; a shady, unsuccessful, aging British boxing promoter whose world begins to implode when he gambles everything on one fight featuring his son in the main event. The story in this B-flick becomes an overwrought mess as Caine's character becomes an overwrought mess, making Caine's performance the only reason for spending time with the film. Okay for Caine fans and passable stuff for all others. (C)

michael caine is well known for accepting every sh**job that comes along. he´s in it for the money and he freely admits that. his recent films include plenty of stinkers (e.g. SHADOW RUN) so it´s quite refreshing to see him in a decent crime flick which allows him once more to show the wide span of his talents. SHINER is not a masterpiece, it´s a typical revenge story a la GET CARTER. this is a michael caine solo. all the other actors hardly have a space to breathe, caine just pushes them aside like the giant steamtrain he is. only the great martin landau can somehow compete with him, the others, frank harper (LOCK STOCK...) and andy serkis ( gollum from LORD OF THE RINGS, hihihi) do a good job but can´t keep up. all in all a very nice way to spend some time but I´d rather watch SEXY BEAST.