Review of Shiner

Introduction

Billy `Shiner` Simpson (Michael Caine) is a dodgy smalltime boxing promoter from the East End with a gem of a boxer in his son, Eddie `Golden Boy` Simpson (Coronation Street`s Matthew Marsden). He manages to set up a title contention and is going for the big money against Michael `Mikey` Peck (Derrick Harmon), managed by Frank Spedding (Martin Landau). He feels he`s onto a winner with his son and makes lavish preparations for a celebratory dinner afterwards.

Golden Boy however is nervous, really nervous, and after being knocked out in the ring disappoints his father big time. To say that Shiner is merely disappointed is an understatement though and he flies into a rage, determined to find out what and why it happened. Is his son taking a dive? He`s also got the police after him for something to do with an unlicensed boxing match.

Video

This is a good transfer, the 1.85:1 anamorphic video just looks very sharp. The colours are well saturated with high levels of detail and good black too. Very little dirt and only very minor smearing, not enough to distract. This is a very good transfer.

On a side note however, the region 1 DVD of Shiner has a wider 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer, so your guess is as good as mine as to why we have to get a cropped aspect ratio.

Audio

We get clean sounding Dolby Digital 5.1 audio delivering a punchy soundtrack. The dialogue is crisp and the boxing ring sounds are pretty believable with all the thump you need to almost take in those punches yourself. Some of the crowd noise does drown out the main dialogue however while the boxing scenes are on but this is easily remedied with subtitles.

Features

Not many features here, just a couple in fact. There`s a 20 minute Making Of which is interesting and features cast and crew talking briefly about aspects of the film. The Making Of here presents a wider aspect ratio of the film through clips, than what`s present on this disc. It`s 2.35:1 and there are plenty of clips here that just show more space which I think looks better. I haven`t a clue why it`s cropped to 1.85:1. Following this there`s a trailer which is the usual trailer in revealing too much.

There are English subtitles too. That`s it. It would have been nice to see some b-roll footage, outtakes and the like, just some more worthy extras.

Conclusion

Shiner for me was one of those movies that came and went without so much as a blip. It`s certainly an interesting thriller but one that doesn`t quite deliver upon it`s expectations. It`s a tragic story and like what`s said in the Making Of, it`s inspired by Shakespeare`s King Lear. This story takes place over a weekend and this is too short a time in which to establish the relationships between Billy and the rest of his family. We know his childen are fearful of him, but we learn this not so much in their characters but in their dialogue. We`re spoon fed some of these feelings and I found this to be quite a dull way of telling the story.

Michael Caine is, well, Michael Caine. His performance is good and he knows how to hold your attention. The sheer desperation of this once ambitious man as his world collapses around him is interesting to behold. Martin Landau as the American promoter doesn`t really have much of a part so he doesn`t lend much to his role while Matthew Marsden should perhaps stick to Corrie (if he`s still in it). Frank Harper (Stoney) and Andy Serkis (Mel) as Shiner`s right hand men are amusing and play well together. Frances Barber on the other hand seems a little out of place.

Shiner is an uninspiring and forgettable thriller with a great performance from Mr Caine, let down by an average script. Sadly not a film worth buying, but worthy of a rental.