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SHADOW DANCER Send This Review to a Friend
The Irish “troubles” in Belfast have yielded yet another tense drama in “Shadow Dancer,” set in 1993 with a thriller plot involving the I.R.A, British MI 5 and a woman pressed into becoming an informer. Directed by James Marsh from a screenplay By Tom Bradby based on his novel, the film stars Andrea Roseborough as Collette, a single mother who is nabbed planting a bomb in London. She is interrogated by Clive Owen as Mac, an MI5 officer who threatens her with prison unless she returns to Dublin to spy on her activist brothers.
There are multiple twists, including a growing sexual attraction between Collette and Mac and maneuvering inside MI5, with Mac being left out of the loop by his boss, Kate, played by Gillian Anderson. What gives? Mac does his investigating in trying to discover what secrets may be in the files.
Collette carries feelings of guilt stemming from the death of her little brother, whom she sent on an errand instead of going herself when they were kids. Collette’s mother is played stoically by Brid Brennan, who knows more than she indicates. Suspicion falls on Collette among the I.R.A militants.
Mac concocts a way to spirit Collete and her child from danger, but his plans are against the grain of what is being concocted inside MI5. The plot heats up to the point of a major revelation. I found the ending confusing, as the film doesn’t spell everything out, leaving the viewer to ponder what will happen to Collette.
The direction is low-key, as the action unfolds tautly, building suspense as the film inches toward climactic resolution. The intricate plotting doesn’t rely on credibility as much as on the dynamics of rebellion and duplicity. A Magnolia Pictures release. Reviewed May 31, 2013.
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