Rating: 
Summary: Good, but no masterpiece
Review: A superb film with an excellent cast. I can't say enough about Stuart Townsend. He is one of the most overlooked and underrated actors in the industry. The remaining cast each hold their own and deliver "dead on" performances. The story will certainly hold your attention and keep you guessing. Don't let this one get away from your collection.
Rating: 
Summary: Astounding ignorance of poker
Review: As a poker player, I really wanted to see this film, and I really wanted to like it. The writer and the director of this film are totally clueless about the game of poker. The film is unwatchable. The poker sequences are laughably bad. I could not watch the whole thing, I just turned it off about half way through. For the poker, I give it zero stars on a scale of 1 to 5. As a movie above and beyond the technical aspects, about 2 or 3 stars because of muddled plot development and so-so characters.
Rating:
Summary: Great acting and plot, lousy poker
Review: As a regular card player, I found one aspect of the poker in this movie to be incredbily distrating, and it is time to set things straight. In any type of card game where you can bet any amount of money (aka no limit stakes), you can NOT bet any more than you have in front of you, on the table. In other words, you can not pull a stack of hundreds out of your jacket in an amount that is so great that if your opponent can not come up with the money to call, he is forced to give up the hand. Likewise, a player can only call a large bet for only the amount of chips he has in front of him on the table. This is utter nonsense.
Since this is common knowledge for any regular card player, it is clear that this movie was designed for those who do not play cards, unlike the great movie "Rounders."
As for the acting, it was great and the cast was top notch. However, since I am in agreement with the other critics on this, I will let them explain it. I just had to make my peace.
Rating: 
Summary: A very pleasant suprise
Review: As a rule, I usually try and avoid films that never make it to the theater, and films that Stallone has done in the last five years. However, I decided to put my skepticism aside for "Shade" because it features an excellent cast with Stuart Townsend, Gabriel Byrne, Jamie Foxx, and Melanie Griffith. I started out only watching "Shade" because of the good cast, and ended up loving the movie overall. I never would have guessed that it would combine elements of poker, slight of hand and card magic, and elements of a con-artist movie. When you combine the three as Shade did, you have an excellent film. Not to mention the fact that you will never see the ending coming. However, the one thing that suprised about this film even more than its ending, was the fact that Stallone had a decent performance. In fact, it is one of the best performances of his career. With recent stinkers like "Driven", "Get Carter", and the latest "Spy Kids" movie, Stallone really stepped up and delivered a good performance. On an interesting side note, the actors were trained by professional card mechanics to handle the cards themselves. There are no lame shots of the actor's face, and then someone else's hands. The actors are actually doing it themselves. In fact, actor Stuart Townsend took such an interest in card mecanics, that he worked with professionals after the film was over. Professional card mechanic David Nieman wrote and directed "Shade" and captured every aspect of that world on screen. Aside from the reviews on Amazon, there were a lot of people that liked this movie and I was definately one of them. If you enjoy films that involve gambling, card magic, or con artists, you should definately check "Shade" out. The cast and Stallone's performance make it only that much better.
Rating:
Summary: A very pleasant suprise
Review: As a rule, I usually try and avoid films that never make it to the theater, and films that Stallone has done in the last five years. However, I decided to put my skepticism aside for "Shade" because it features an excellent cast with Stuart Townsend, Gabriel Byrne, Jamie Foxx, and Melanie Griffith. I started out only watching "Shade" because of the good cast, and ended up loving the movie overall. I never would have guessed that it would combine elements of poker, slight of hand and card magic, and elements of a con-artist movie. When you combine the three as Shade did, you have an excellent film. Not to mention the fact that you will never see the ending coming. However, the one thing that suprised about this film even more than its ending, was the fact that Stallone had a decent performance. In fact, it is one of the best performances of his career. With recent stinkers like "Driven", "Get Carter", and the latest "Spy Kids" movie, Stallone really stepped up and delivered a good performance. On an interesting side note, the actors were trained by professional card mechanics to handle the cards themselves. There are no lame shots of the actor's face, and then someone else's hands. The actors are actually doing it themselves. In fact, actor Stuart Townsend took such an interest in card mecanics, that he worked with professionals after the film was over. Professional card mechanic David Nieman wrote and directed "Shade" and captured every aspect of that world on screen. Aside from the reviews on Amazon, there were a lot of people that liked this movie and I was definately one of them. If you enjoy films that involve gambling, card magic, or con artists, you should definately check "Shade" out. The cast and Stallone's performance make it only that much better.
Rating: 
Summary: THREE Stars for the story; FIVE for the casting!
Review: As far as the story is concerned, the plot twists were kind of easy to predict and the characters were your typical assortment: sexy female diversion, cool calculating young apprentice, savvy street-wise hustler, experienced poker ace, and the omnipresent crimeland kingpin of whom everyone is afraid.
But, it is the marvelous casting that makes this film for me. Stallone, Townsend, Byrne, Newton, and Foxx seem to really be enjoying themselves in their various parts and could easily have given Clooney's "Ocean Eleven" crew a run for the money. Melanie Griffith's extended cameo fits well into the film's structure, too.
However, the appearance of acting pros as Hal Holbrook, Patrick Bauchau, and Dina Merrill are a pleasure for this movie fan, adding an element of class and authenticity to the posh surroundings. Bo Hopkins (who also served as executive producer) has a field day as a not-so-honest L.A. cop.
Even "Deep Space Nine's" Michael Dorn has a small part, sans his KLINGON garb.
Roger G. Smith makes an impression as a "hood" with impeccable diction.
The film may not have made much headway at the box office but is still an enjoyable look at what goes on with those with money to burn.
Rating:
Summary: "Shade" is COOL
Review: Deception begets deception which begets betrayal! Or in other words, poker hustlers seize the table and win big. "Shade" is a great movie filled with convincing performances by the whole cast and the direction is confident. Vernon (Stuart Townsend) "The Mechanic" knows how to cut the deck and can guarantee a win everytime. Vernon played Vegas and in a hilarious scene, two women fought for no reason (you'll have to watch). Then he was summoned by Charlie Miller (Gabriel Byrne), a street hustler and his ex-girlfriend Tiffany (Thandie Newton) to rip off overly cocky players like Larry Jennings (Jamie Foxx). But, their ultimate score would be to beat the man, "The Dean" (Sylvester Stallord in a monumental performance). Of course NOBODY beats Stallone whether it's in a boxing ring, a warfield, or at a card table. Please learn from the master. This movie is just as good, if not better than "Rounders." I think it was robbed of a theater release because it definitely would've won over the critics and it probably would've won a pretty penny. By the way, Tiffany's name is worth every penny! Slammin!
Rating:
Summary: "Shade" is COOL
Review: Deception begets deception which begets betrayal! Or in other words, poker hustlers seize the table and win big. "Shade" is a great movie filled with convincing performances by the whole cast and the direction is confident. Vernon (Stuart Townsend) "The Mechanic" knows how to cut the deck and can guarantee a win everytime. Vernon played Vegas and in a hilarious scene, two women fought for no reason (you'll have to watch). Then he was summoned by Charlie Miller (Gabriel Byrne), a street hustler and his ex-girlfriend Tiffany (Thandie Newton) to rip off overly cocky players like Larry Jennings (Jamie Foxx). But, their ultimate score would be to beat the man, "The Dean" (Sylvester Stallord in a monumental performance). Of course NOBODY beats Stallone whether it's in a boxing ring, a warfield, or at a card table. Please learn from the master. This movie is just as good, if not better than "Rounders." I think it was robbed of a theater release because it definitely would've won over the critics and it probably would've won a pretty penny. By the way, Tiffany's name is worth every penny! Slammin!
Rating:
Summary: Decent, Light-Weight (If Not Original) Film about Poker Game
Review: First-time director Damian Nieman presents this film about underground gamblers in LA (from RKO Pictures Production), starring Stuart Townsend, Gabriel Byrne, Thandie Newton, Jamie Foxx, Melanie Griffith, and Sylvester Stallone as "Duke." Mr. Stallone's role is slightly better than cameo, like John Malkovitch in "Rounders," his fans should know. The story is about the con-men team (and a lady) led by the leader "Miller" played by suave Byrne. They can get a chance to play cards against the legendary figure "Duke" (Stallone) only if they raise the money enough to enter the house -- and that's $250,000. But there are some major problems -- besides raising the money, they find themselves in a trouble, being involved with some scary guys from underworld. And Dean, though he is getting old, is still a formidable opponent at card game table. As to the story, I cannot reveal much (sorry for my hazy symposis). All I can say is that "Shade" (itself a techinaical term about card game) is about the poker game and its players. It's about, "Who is going to win in the end?" and the ending is certainly surprising, though some people might detect it. The problem is, well, actually not a problem, but, the thing is, "Shade" has nothing new to offer for us. It's well-acted, well-structured, and has surely good amount of twists, and a credible feeling about the underground gambling house. And that's all I can say. Still the actors did decent jobs, and it also is good to see Stallone who (with a slightly white hair) honestly shows that he is now a veteran actor in this film business, like other interesting faces you can see here -- Hal Holbrook, Dina Merrill, Patrick Bauchau, all adding unique touch to the film. See the film as good, light-hearted entertainment. Christopher Young's jazzy score is also enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Dear Lord this movie sucked
Review: Horrible, Horrible, Film. I mean it made Gigli look Oscar worthy!
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