Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Rexanne It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Theo Robertson After rewatching and enjoying Brit thriller '71 I decided to watch another thriller using the Irish troubles as its background . SHADOW DANCR came and went without any publicity whatsoever typical of many movies produced by BBC Films and the basic plot just seemed like a generic DONNIE BRASCO type plot of someone working undercover in a criminal gang hoping the brown smelly stuff doesn't hit the fan . It's not necessarily a bad idea for a plot and the fact that it has been used so often in thrillers is because it's not a bad idea for a plot and was intrigued as to how the production might bring something new to the oft used basic story The answer to this is through the use of languer . For the first 15 minutes director James Marsh uses long shot lengths and minimal dialogue to tell the story which I suppose is to give the film a feel of a dream slowly turning in to a waking nightmare . Certainly this is probably preferable to a Michael Bay production with constant fast edits but at the same time it's very divisive and if a potential audience tuned in then tuned out after the first 15 minutes I could understand their motives . , but the Troubles wasn't a conflict involving large piece Stalingrad type battles no matter what Hollywood garbage tries to tell you and so the low key approach is more than justified . Another aspect that the production tries to make it stand out from its peers is simply to have the undercover protagonist a female and mother called Collette !!!! SUGGESTIVE SPOILERS !!!! As the story continues it plays out as you'd expect it of the IRA becoming more and more suspicious of having a mole in their organisation .. Perhaps because the informant is female and her MI5 handler is played by Clive Owen then you're expecting a romantic subplot to blossom and to be fair the screenwriter has resisted this . There is a subplot about another informant being protected meaning Collette is being used as the fall guy but when their identity is revealed it's all rather unconvincing and unexplained and seems to be included to bring the film to a stop which probably sums up the rest of the film

pc95 (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

John Raymond Peterson This movie is based on the novel by well known journalist (in the U.K.) Tom Bradby, who also wrote the screenplay. It's a dark thriller that runs a mere 100 minutes, unusually short for the genre; but it still manages to work, without as much of the character and relationship development I would have enjoyed seeing expanded. Bradby has had all the firsthand experience and knowledge on the subject, covering the Northern Ireland goings-on in the 1990's. He skillfully wrote a screenplay that is apolitical, yet retains convincing elements necessary for the movie to be a genuine thriller. The cast was well chosen and the ensemble delivers the goods without reproach.The opening of the movie brings important context to what will follow next in the movie. It 1973 Belfast, during 'The Troubles', we see young Collette witness the tragedy of the times when her younger brother is killed, collateral damage, and how she is moved by the event. Maria Laird who plays young Collette is an actress I look forward to seeing again soon. Then we fast forward to 1993 when Collette, played by Andrea Riseborough, is now an IRA member; she is apprehended when she planted a bomb in the London Underground, but the IRA doesn't know that for sure. Enters Mac, MI 5 agent played by Clyve Owen, who turns Collette informant. Unbeknownst to Mac, Collette's MI 5 mission is to protect a mole they have in the IRA; Kate Fletcher, played by Gillian Anderson, is Mac's superior but she does not share the information about the existence of a mole, which is something he has to dig up himself, if he's to ensure the protection of Collette. The drama then unfolds. The thriller has just one real twist, but it is a startling one at the end.I have to warn audiences about the very poor audio levelling in the movie. You see, there are two very critical and short pieces of dialogue without which it will be virtually impossible to understand the movie's denouement. So if you see the movie on DVD/BlueRay or some other device that has pause and rewind features, you'll be fine; you can play back and jack up the volume for those two moments, and you'll know I'm sure when those are. I never get how sound editors can miss that sort of stuff, that which can kill the viewing enjoyment. I'm very glad I didn't see this movie at the cinema, but on my big screen at home instead.Given the running time of the movie, I was happy enough with the key actors' interpretations of their role, but can't help but think how much better I would have like it if some twenty more minutes could have been added. I hope those weren't just cut out for reasons I don't want to speculate about. Of course, you get that I recommend the movie despite that.

bob-rutzel-1 MI5 Agent Mac (Clive Owen) gives Collette (Andrea Riseborough) a choice: go to prison and lose her son for planting a bomb on English soil or become his informer to take down members of the IRA. She accepts to protect her son, but Mac soon discovers his superior, Kate Fletcher (Gillian Anderson), is also using Collette to protect "her" informer within the IRA. Mac needs to find the identity of that informer. I like Clive Owen movies, but this one was not ready to come to the gate. When the movie ends there are questions that should have been answered within. Didn't happen. We didn't get an inkling that there was a love relationship between Mac and Collette, yet she spontaneously kisses him at one point and nothing happens thereafter. Why did she do that? How did the IRA know that Kate's informer was the mole who they killed? We had no clue to that. Were some scenes cut that we never saw? The surprise ending regarding Mac made absolutely no sense. Again, perhaps some scenes were cut? Huh?I believe directors have a responsibility to allow the audience to hear what is being said. When English and Irish accents are involved the men have a great tendency to talk into their chests, talk so fast the road-runner couldn't keep up, whisper in conspiratorial tones that rewinding the DVD many times just exercises the wrist. This doesn't happen with the women actors. We can hear them fine. The movie centered too much on Collette and that led me to believe that Mac was second fiddle in here. He had no control over anything. And, the contentious relationship with Kate, his boss, didn't help matters. James Bond wouldn't allow things to get this out of control (you really wanted Clive Owen to be the next James Bond, didn't you?) When our hero (Mac) loses control, we don't know what to expect anymore. See?This movie should have been wrapped in suspense and tension but, they were not in evidence. The best part of the movie was the first 20-minutes. After that it all ran downhill with Collette's side of things. Yes, Andrea Riseborough, as Collette, performed well, but we went to see a Clive Owen movie. Oh, he also performed well, as usual, but his Mac lost control. I like going to Clive Owen movies. I hope the next one is better. (3/10)Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Torture: Yes. Language: Yes, mostly in the beginning.