Shiner

Michael Caine, plays an East End boxing promoter, on the verge of winning a World Title with his son. A brutal look and the beautiful art and plays out like the 'Long Good Friday', This was made at a time when the 'Brit Gangster' genre was at the height of fashion. This is indeed a true insight to the world of British Boxing and it's not a pretty sight.

A powerhouse performance from Sir Maurice is ultimatly let down as the film begins to fall apart in the second half. A very promising set up is wasted as the plot gets more convoluted and handicaped by a very weak finish, you will literally cry out "Is that it then" when the reason for the whole catalogue of events becomes clear. It's a shame really as there are some very good performances in this movie. Both Frank Harper and Andy Serkis as Caine's henchmen are excellant and Claire Rushbrook shines (no pun intended) as his daughter. Violence and fights galore, in fact even Caine's daughters, Rushbrook and the very menancing looking Frances Barber have a lively dust up in the Kitchen. it's all to easy to believe Barber as Caine's daughters as she duffs up Rushbrook, grabs her by the hair and menacingly looks down at her screaming abuse, this is not a pleasant family! But at the end they can't save you leaving the film feeling it's a wasted opportunity, still probably worth seeing if you want to see Caine at his most powerful.

Sir Michael Caine seems to be spending most of his time these days on home soil making home-grown movies, some good (little voice), and some appalling (shadow run). Shiner is Caine back to his best, and it's a role in which he didn't have to act as he was virtually playing a character that mirrored his own life, a working class south Londoner, that has moved on to better things. Billy Shiner Simpson, is a streetwise boxing promoter and organizer of un-licensed or illegal bouts. He not only has connections within the criminal underworld but he also has his fingers in many a dodgy pie. He finally has the option of fulfilling his dream of a major Legal bout in the form of a title fight between his son Eddie, the boy from blighty, matched up against Martin Landau's American fighter. Shiner has put all his money on his lad winning the fight and the title, but all is not well, His partner is pocketing money given to hire fighters for the preliminary bouts, his son is loosing his nerve, The old bill want to arrest him for his role in the death of an unlicensed boxer, and the night is about to get a lot more sinister and deadly, as after loosing the fight, his son is shot dead by a faceless assassin. Caine plays his part brilliantly, similar in style to his portrayal of Jack Carter in 1971's Get Carter, Shiners character is not as cool as Carter in his quest for revenge and is a bit more desperate, but every bit as ruthless. Aided by his two bodyguards, Stoney and Mel (played brilliantly by Andy 'Gollum' Serkis) He must now put the pieces of his shattered dream together and punish those responsible for his sons death. a gritty and uncompromising look at London's boxing culture made even more effective that the character of Shiner Simpson, though fictional for this movie, is a composite amalgam of a group people that really exist in today's London. This is one of Caine's best roles of his long career and certainly his best since the turn of the Milena.

Billy, an ambitious boxing-promoter organizes a world-title bout somewhere in England, and bets everything he has on his son, who he puts up to fight. But exactly on the greatest day of his life, the police start to investigate the death of a fighter who was killed in an unlicensed bout. They suspect Billy may have something to do with it.

Shiner is all in all a good movie, but not a great one. Michael Caine, as always, is excellent as Billy, a man who is almost destroyed by his ambition. Martin Landau is pretty good as well, playing a rivaling American promoter. Although Landau receives top-billing, he is in the movie for only a handful of scenes. Gary Lewis is very good as well, playing the personal trainer of the young boxer. Director Irvin guides the cast with a strong hand and a sense of style, it's just a shame the script isn't more polished. The story simply has too many loose ends, and drastically breaks style about halfway. The first half of the movie is a detailed and often very funny observation of the boxing world, where the second part is a sort of Get Carter revenge-flick. A bit inconsistent, but a good film nevertheless, with a knock-out performance by Michael Caine.

michael caine is well known for accepting every sh**job that comes along. he´s in it for the money and he freely admits that. his recent films include plenty of stinkers (e.g. SHADOW RUN) so it´s quite refreshing to see him in a decent crime flick which allows him once more to show the wide span of his talents. SHINER is not a masterpiece, it´s a typical revenge story a la GET CARTER. this is a michael caine solo. all the other actors hardly have a space to breathe, caine just pushes them aside like the giant steamtrain he is. only the great martin landau can somehow compete with him, the others, frank harper (LOCK STOCK...) and andy serkis ( gollum from LORD OF THE RINGS, hihihi) do a good job but can´t keep up. all in all a very nice way to spend some time but I´d rather watch SEXY BEAST.