Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

alexfstu Nothing to do with Poker, though a great set of actors. Except the main character. No drama, nothing intense. Broken down story. Waste of time in my opinion. Stallone was rather good, surprisingly. But better watch Rounders than waste your time on this one. I missed it when it came out and now I know the reason.

cruxster I thought this was going to be a sleeper given the cast, but what I saw was very pedestrian at best. The plot was was OK, but the directing and/or the acting(usually that means the directing was lacking) was hard to watch. When Sly Stallone used Edward G. Robinson's line from "The Cincinnati Kid", I laughed out loud. How this classy cast ends up in this train-wreck is the real con. It tries to be The Sting, The Cincinnati Kid, A Big Hand for the Little Lady, but the script and direction just don't pack the gear. I felt no attachment to the characters, and the actors were allowed to phone in their lines. With the class-act cast of Gabriel Byrne, Thandie Newton, Jamie Foxx, and Hal Holbrook, I really expected an A movie at least, but this gets a C- at best.

Richard Hawes The first thing that struck me about this movie is the RKO Pictures logo. It's something I associate with some of the classics of cinema, like Citizen Kane (1941), but I'd never seen it on a contemporary film. To see a new, enhanced version of the logo, with the familiar beeps of the radio signal, was quite exciting and raised my expectations for this straight-to-video release. It didn't let me down. A stylish production, overshadowed at the time of its release by the similarly themed, and higher profile, Confidence (2003), Shade was an ambitious production with a great cast, as many modest star names as an independent film could wish for, and 2.35: 1 aspect ratio cinematography. Shade is an ensemble film. Two Irish actors, one up and coming and the other an old school favourite, with proved track records in a string of Hollywood projects, lead this L.A. lensed tale of double crossing card sharks. Jamie Foxx and Thandie Newton add notable support, but it's Melanie Griffith and Sylvester Stallone the stand out the most, the latter casting a tremendous shadow over his co-stars. With the aid of his own personal make-up artist, hair stylist and costumer, Stallone makes his character of "The Dean" stand out from the rest of the cast. His skin pale, his lips a bold red, his hair streaked with grey; Stallone reminds us of a classical style of performance, evoking memories of Cary Grant or Dean Martin. Proving once again why his career has had such longevity. One of the best films of its type, this light-hearted thriller, which owes a clear debt to the classic The Sting (1973), features great performances from all the principles, as well as fun supporting roles for Hal Holbrook, Bo Hopkins, Michael Dorn and B-Real from Cypress Hill. Without wishing to elaborate on the plot, the non- linear narrative requires close attention and the twists never fail to amuse.

robo8 How did so many talented or at least charismatic actors wind up in this baloney? Nothing is very good about this movie but the worst things probably are the screenplay and the directing.Apparently this is director Damian Niemans heart-piece as he's both written and directed it (and acted in as well). He's a card magician himself and seems to have named characters in homage of other famous magicians. This was his first feature film as far as I know, and chances are it's his last.It's hard to point to exactly what makes it so poor – but I'd say the story and character's are not believable (the screenplay) and the directing doesn't give it any boost (the director). Plus – the poker scenes are bad in the worst Hollywood manner (super-hands, Hollywood rules)! The supposed twists in the movie are either totally predictable or totally unbelievable. They just end up tying a knot to a story that at best can be described as "a few decent scenes"!