ArthurDental
The score given to this film on IMDb almost discouraged me from seeing it, but I knew Claire Forlani would put on a great performance. I wasn't disappointed.Like many other reviewers have pointed out, this movie lacks explosions and world-saving heroes, big bad conspiracies or someone with terminal illnesses. But it's honest and warm.I wish Forlani would be given more lead roles. She has one of the most expressive faces in Hollywood - count the number of scenes where she doesn't speak a word. (Unfortunately, in last year's Carolina Moon she appeared to have caught the contagious Hollywood disease of anorexia.) Harvey Keitel seems relaxed and comfortable despite - or perhaps because of - this being an atypical role. He played it perfectly.Joshua Jackson was probably weakest, partly because I felt his character wasn't as filled out as it could have been. Having "killed off" his family back in London and giving him a job with poor prospects, it seemed too easy to make him stay in Tuscany. The movie was about Keitel, though, so the producer or director probably didn't want to clutter it with too much going on. Jackson did the job though and supported by a talented cast, it was more than enough.Not a movie to watch if you want to be thrilled or scared or interested in the lives of celebrities, but a good weekend afternoon experience it was for me.
enda_od
Maybe I'm too cynical. I accept that. Maybe I grew up watching too may sickeningly heart-warming glory-hunting nice shy guys and gals struggle against adversity but always come out tops in the end, you know the type, Saturday afternoon Disney movies, designed to make geeky kids feel good about the world. You just got to be true to yourself, kid and then you will triumph. Well don't be fooled by the presence of Mr. Harvey Keitel, this is one of those movies that manage to turn my stomach into mulch. In fact the only thing good I can say about Harvey Keitel in this is that he looks like he feels the same as me, doing just enough to collect the pay check once the whole ordeal is over. Avoid!!
Masticator76
**CONTAINS SPOILERS THROUGHOUT**I watched the DVD of 'Shadows In The Sun', formerly known as 'The Shadow Dancer'. Because 'Shadows In The Sun' is a much better name and makes complete sense.Josh Jackson is a hotshot young publishing executive - the best kind! His boss, who is Gimli, sends him to Italy to track down an eccentric, reclusive author who hasn't written anything for 20 years, since his wife died. Josh goes to Italy and gets a hotel in a tiny, remote Tuscan village where everybody speaks enough English to tell him that no, they haven't heard of this author. But it turns out that they're all protecting him because they know he hates hotshot young publishing executives! Josh, because he's clever and tenacious, finds him and he's Harvey Keitel, acting all crazy. But Josh sees through Harvey's cunning ruse (guess what – he is Not Really Crazy) and begs him to sign a contract and write another book, because he should, because he's brilliant! Harvey tells him to GO AWAY. He sets his dog on him and pretends to throw him in a lake, because he's so eccentric and free-spirited. But then they start to form a grudging friendship, after Harvey trashes Josh's rental car and they end up in prison a couple of times, because that's how all real friendships start.Meanwhile Josh meets Harvey's daughter, who is Claire Forlani (he has two other daughters, Goth Daughter and Hat Daughter, who serve no discernible purpose other than being Not As Beautiful As Claire Forlani) with-a an outrageous-a Italian-a accent-a, even-a though her father is-a American-a. He tells her the real reason he wants Harvey to write again is that Harvey's book 'The Shadow Dancer' (not 'Shadows In The Sun', which would be a stupid title) changed his life when he was 12. Claire says he should have told Harvey that. Josh agrees, but then for some reason he never does tell him. Claire says that despite what Harvey says, he does want to write again, but he's afraid. Possibly that his typewriter will turn into a giant scary cockroach thing like in 'Naked Lunch'. Needless to say a giant scary cockroach thing would have improved this movie immeasurably.Anyway it turns out that Josh wants to be a writer as well, so Harvey teaches him to use words other than "the" and "it" and "and" to describe things, because this is a basic skill writers need. He also tells him that he needs experience to draw on and he tries to provide some for him, including punching Josh in the stomach and getting him to do karaoke. Harvey also gets naked and Josh is horrified, which presumably doesn't require much acting. Josh buys a nasty waistcoat at the market and starts to learn Italian from Claire, even though everyone speaks English in the remote Tuscan village. Because he's very subtle, the first words he asks Claire to translate into Italian are "beautiful", "lips" and "kiss". Josh tells Harvey that he knows he wants to write again and he should stop hiding behind his DEAD WIFE!! After punching him and crying a bit, Harvey agrees to write again, and Josh gets to sleep with Claire, although without any proper nudity because that would be tasteless. Afterwards she tells him it was just a one-night thing, and he gets drunk and nearly cries, and then he has to leave. Harvey says Josh should stay, seeing as he has no family, doesn't really like his job, should live somewhere inspiring if he wants to be a writer, and OMG London (where he lives) is like so totally lame compared to Tuscany! But Josh says he just can't. So he leaves on a steam train, because Harvey doesn't just live in Italy, he lives in Italy in the 1890s! Then there's some nonsense about a bird and a horse, and Josh pulls the emergency cord to stop the train, for which there is probably a €75 fine, and he gets off and kisses Claire even though she was totally mean to him five minutes before, and they all live happily ever after… in the shadows in the sun, I guess.
