Today’s quick review: Shades. Dylan Cole (Andrew Howard), a volatile method actor, loses himself in his latest role as Freddy Lebecq (Jan Declier), a notorious serial killer. Drinking and lashing out on set, Dylan clashes with director Paul Sullivan (Mickey Rourke) over whether to portray Lebecq as a victim or a monster. It falls to producer Max Vogel (Gene Bervoets) to rein in Dylan’s antics and keep the production from going under.
Shades is a crime drama about the troubled production of a serial killer’s biopic. Dylan, Paul, and Max must navigate public controversy, creative differences, and doubts from their investors to bring their motion picture to life. Shades aims to be a chaotic drama where one star’s behavior sets off an avalanche of production problems and public backlash. However, flawed presentation and an unfocused story keep the movie from finding its footing.
Shades tinkers with interesting ideas but never uses them to their fullest. Dylan starts out as a cautionary tale about the dangers of method acting, but he settles into a less interesting role as a misguided actor who believes Lebecq is a victim. The public outcry over Dylan’s attempts to humanize Lebecq could have been insightful commentary, but instead it is simply a plot device. Finally, none of the major plot threads go anywhere.
The result is a movie that never takes off. From scene to scene, Shades introduces some promising ideas and plays out some viable conflicts between its characters. But in the end, very little of it amounts to anything. The best ideas peter out, the characters bicker without growing, and a couple of badly mismanaged scenes rob the movie of its momentum. Shades has something to offer the curious, but most viewers should look elsewhere.
For a more emotionally impactful movie with meta elements that’s set in Belgium, try JCVD. For a black comedy about a serial killer movie that goes off the rails, try Seven Psychopaths. For a more offbeat, artistic film about a role’s deleterious effect on a star, try Birdman. For a more comical peek behind the curtain of a troubled movie production, check out Hail, Caesar!.
[5.4 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0139606/). I give it a 5.0 for promising ideas that don’t find purchase.