Rating: 
Summary: Shade
Review: I had never heard or seen any previews of the movie. Talk about a great film on grifters. The cast was outstanding, especially Gabriel Byrne & Jamie Foxx. This movies grabs you from the beginning and the ending just blew my mind" I had to back up to make sure I saw what I saw" Whew!
Does anyone know why this was never at the theaters or a leasy advertised?
In closing I recommend Four Dogs Playing Poker
Marsha Mays, San Diego, CA
Rating: 
Summary: Hidden references for Magicians!
Review: I love "con" films (The Sting, The Spanish Prisoner, Heist, etc.) and enjoyed this one although it does not come close to the others I just mentioned. Part of the reason I love this genre is that I am a close-up/card magician and magicians use many "con" tecniques in their craft...albiet for entertainment pursposes only.
I was delighted at the story line that took place at the club I belong to (The Academy of Magical Arts, aka "The Magic Castle," in Hollywood). Not only that but many of the characters are named for famous magicians (and I am NOT talking about Copperfield or Blaine here). Some of those names are "Larry Jennings," "Charlie Miller," and "Dai Vernon" - the latter also has a seperate look-a-like character played by Hal Holbrook, known as "The Professor" (the real Dai Vernon's nickname).
An enjoyable enough dvd to pass as hour and a half with!
Rating:
Summary: Watch the DVD extras
Review: I think it was a great movie, I bought this film since there was nothing else that intresting at the time in the store.
Sylvester Stallone is back after his humiliating role in the worthles bullsh@# called spy kids 3 and other crappy roles I'm not even going to mention, he plays a conman who is near his retirement goes on one more job.
What intrested me in this film was that it had some great actors like Jamie Fox and Gabriel Burn and other celebreties, I'm not sure how accurate they played poker because I have never played poker in my intire life but I thought the stoy was pretty good just try to avoid Sly's other recent films like Avenging Angelo aaagh.
Rating: 
Summary: This movie is terrible
Review: I went into this movie with high expectations. I did table card magic as a kid, and I've been playing poker regularly for over fifteen years now. And I love reading about or watching movie about grifters and their schemes.
This movie managed to disappoint me in virtually every area. It shows an *astounding* ignorance of the mechanics of a poker game, and the world of poker players. I also found the "grifting" aspect of it to be totally lacking in credibility, and the "surprise" ending was transparent.
Let's get one thing straight to begin with, you cannot bet your opponent off the table in poker. The very notion is ridiculous. All serious big money games are played table stakes. And even if you weren't playing table stakes, no one would sit down in a game where the guy with most money could literally buy a pot simply by having more money than you. This is such a clear oversight that I have to wonder if the writer of this movie has ever even played poker.
Second, mechanics don't get any action. The premise of this movie is apparently two well known card mechanics keep getting involved in big money games. This is ridiculous. Once someone gets tagged as a mechanic no one is ever going to invite him to another game as long as he lives. In the poker world, a "famous" mechanic is a broke mechanic.
Third, if these people are such great grifters, why are they messing around with a minor scam in the beginning of the movie? Are you really telling me that on the *same* day they're lining up an $80,000 pull, they're also stealing a few hundred bucks from a gas station attendant??? Please!!!
And did anybody else here think the organ-stealing scene was both incredibly contrived and inexplicably stupid?
There are exactly two good thing about this movie: the opening scene is highly entertaining, and the slight of hand is interesting. Those guys had good cuts for the most part, and it's fun watching card manipulation. Other than that, there are a couple of toss-backs to other gambling movies (references to "Rounders" and "The Cincinnati Kid" to name a few).
But, if you like poker and know anything about it, this movie will have you wincing in your seat at how horribly the game is portrayed. If you expect logical plotlines, this movie will leave you scratching your head. The story of this movie has so many holes that it's a wonder the disc doesn't fall apart when you take it out of the case.
If, however, you don't play poker, don't play on playing poker, and know nothing about America's great con artists, then you might find this movie mildly diverting. Still, you couldn't pay me to watch it again.
Rating: 
Summary: So why didn't this make it to theaters?
Review: It is rare to hear such polarization of opinions on a film that apparently didn't ever open in the theaters. When the list of current fluff is surveyed - films not only with no storyline but no actors of any merit to propel what is not there - it makes you wonder 'what happened?' A great movie? No, but it is far above the things that draw massive crowds to the popcorn palaces. SHADE, as written and directed with aplomb by Damian Nieman, is another Con Artist/Grifter/Confidence Game story that just happens to be populated with a crew of excellent actors. This time it is about poker, this was a riveting and fascinating story. At last Stuart Townsend gets a chance to star as the main card shark and he handles his pivotal role with tremendous finesse. He is teamed with Gabriel Byrne and Thandie Newton in the near perfect con. The victims and other players include Jamie Foxx, Dina Merrill, Hal Holbrook, Melanie Griffith, and even Sylvester Stallone in a fine turn as the Dean of Cards. The card tricks are believably performed by the actors trained to the nines and the surprise ending is a real jolt, making you realize how easy it is to get caught up in the Grifter mindset. I think this is a polished little film that deserves more attention!
Rating:
Summary: Good, but no masterpiece
Review: It's a definitely watchable anf entertaining film, but that's about as far as it goes. If you try to go deeper, it's disapointing; there are holes in the plot big enough to sail ships through and Stallone lookes like he's embalmed.
Rating: 
Summary: dont expect much from Shade.......me, I folded when needed
Review: Jamie Foxx (Ray, Collateral) loses a card game but the money he lost wasnt his..so, card players, Gabriel Byrne (Spider, Assualt On Precinct 13), Thandie Newton (Mission Impossible 2, The Truth About Charlie) and Stuart Townsend (Queen Of The Damned, Trapped) need the money so they wanna challenge The Dean, played by Sylvester Stallone (Rocky 1-5,Rambo 1-3) in order to win the money. A lot of poker jargon.....maybe we didnt get enough in Rounders...ya think? I dont know but this wasnt that great...too boring at most times and most times you dont care if they win or lose or who's playing who or who's triple double crossing who.....it doesnt add up to jack squat. Stallone in a much better boring movie then the other ones he's been in lately. Foxx has his moments but he goes on later to do much more in depth pictures. Also starring Mark Boone Junior (Vampires, Se7en), Hal Holbrook (Creepshow, The Firm), Jack Conley (tv's Angel, Payback), Glenn Plummer (Speed 1-2, Salton Sea), Melanie Griffith (Cecil B. Demented, Nobody's Fool), Bo Hopkins (From Dusk Till Dawn 2), Patrick Bauchau (Panic Room), Charles Rocket (Dumb and Dumber) and Rodney Rowland (Tv's Angel). I was waiting for Matt Damon or Edward Norton to pop in and swing aside these low brow characters.
Rating:
Summary: Great poker film
Review: Saw this movie in Philly. Great acting...lots of twists..great ending..very enjoyable. A movie I'd like to own. Stallone was great.
Rating:
Summary: Overlooked gem of a movie.
Review: Shade is the latest in a long tradition of grifter movies, from the likes of The Hustler and House of Games. Like The Cinncinnati Kid and The Sting before it, Shade involves high stakes poker as the catalyst for the con game. It was released quietly and in an extremely limited run last year but was actually made two years ago. With such a stellar cast it begs the question why did this movie take so long to finally see the light of day?The DVD features "Actor and Director Interviews," a collection of soundbites from the cast. They talk briefly about their involvement in the movie and about their characters. There is also a theatrical trailer included which misleading packages the film as some kind of Tarantino-esque thriller. "Tricks of the Trade" is a fascinating featurette that looks at how some of the various card tricks in the movie were performed. It also provides a brief history of the Magic Castle, a private club for magicians in California. Finally, there is an audio commentary with Nieman and actor Stuart Townsend. They talk about how they shot this low-budget film in only 25 days. Nieman explains what all the grifter slang means and how the character names are based on famous card magicians or hustlers. Shade is solid mix of The Hustler and House of Games. Fans of these kinds of movies should enjoy Shade. It is an underrated movie that will hopefully find a second life on video.
Rating:
Summary: Good Poker Flick
Review: Shade was almost as good as Rounders in it's own way. I mean it had great card tricks and entertaining card games. It had a great cast who gave very good performances. Hell even Stallone did a great job in his small role as The Dean. However it was just a little to dark for me. But hey if your a fan of poker or Rounders you should check iy out.
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