Shadow Dancer (2013)

Bloody streets of Belfast, lives that resemble a terrifying dream and people both Catholic and Protestants caught in this seemingly endless madness. You must be one or the other, no room left for undecided. Having any doubts means betrayal, and betrayal means death, sometimes swift, sometimes painfully slow. "Shadow Dancer", an uncomfortable, but nevertheless brilliant movie. There is a family, broken, and people in this family not just broken, almost shattered. No loyalty must come before loyalty to faith and nationality. So, things you were born with, things you didn't earn or deserve are the most important things in your life. Ergo, these are their destinies. Like some twisted, bad lottery, the one you pray not to win.

Clive Owen is an MI5 stooge who instantly turns a Belfast bomb-dropper-offer woman into an informer, in spite of saying, 'This is going to take some time'. And yes, we get it: Belfast in the troubles (which aren't over btw) is as bleak as it gets. Those IRA guys just want everyone to be as miserable as they are, it seems.Now, introduce hundreds of indistinguishable miserable characters without names or any particular reason to exist other than it's a 'political' film, yeah? A few vignettes of IRA funerals and suchlike, just to lighten the mood. Forget to show the heroine for half an hour, and focus on Clive Owen's double chin.Fast forward ninety minutes. Still awake? Suddenly, Clive and his informer kiss. Fast forward thirty more minutes. then she arranges for his car to be booby trapped even though he offered to elope with her, I think. Because her mother's an informer too, and she has to die.You see, those IRA types just can't be anything but miserable.Who wrote this tripe? Is that the Tom Bradby who was ITV's political editor? Stick to news, Tom. If it wasn't you, sorry.

(spoilers)I enjoyed watching director John Marsh's "Shadow Dancer", an espionage suspense movie set in UK with a story of a Irish woman emotionally scarred by her young brother's tragic death in the 70s during English/Irish conflicts in Belfast. Most of the movie is set in early 90s Ireland when the IRA fought against English rule. Headlines and fighting in this civil/domestic war have been burnt out for good measure since then, but this story features competent acting and satisfactory suspense. The couple of twists were mixed, one well done, and one predictable. Andrea Risborough is a gorgeous and expressive actress, with wide expressive blue eyes. Her Irish accent is spot on (dont know if she herself is actually Irish). She led the movie with quiet expressive resilience. 7/10

With films like In The Name of the Father, Michael Collins, and Hunger, you really have to have a great film about the IRA to get attention. This film not only succeeds as a film that belongs with the others mentioned, but it is really an impressive film.The lighting, scenery, costumes and photography, and background music all contribute to the film in a way that one expects of a great film about Britain in the 90s.Andrea Riseborough (Margaret Thatcher: The Long Walk to Finchley), Domhnall Gleeson (Anna Karenina), David Wilmot (Intermission), and Brid Brennan (Dancing at Lughnasa) gave notable performances allowing us to really feel the personal dilemmas and betrayal they experienced.Good espionage films tend to keep my interest, and this was edge-of-the- seat action.