understand this movie?( spoiler_ - Shadow of Fear (2005) Discussion

[–] weathereye 19 years ago

I wish I could. But I don't get it either. Boy does bad thing. Boy tells his secret to the Creepiest Guy Hanging Around His Creepy Father-in-Law. Bad things follow. Ending makes no sense. Story makes no sense. Couldn't get past that first big plot problem; why did he tell his secret? After that, none of it makes any sense. Message for potential renters of this movie: scratch your heinie for an hour and a half. More fun.

I think it says a lot when a movie is never released here, comes out in Russia, then is sold right to Blockbuster. Hm.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] kadeskiss 19 years ago

..I thought it was just me who didn't understand the movie. thank you so much for putting it in prespective. Your right the movie did drag on and on in places..and even after I watch the whole thing, I was still asking WTF?? Thanks for answering my post, I glad to know I wasn't the only one who didn't understand all of the movie. a lot of thing seem to have been left out of the plot.

Luv

Kades

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[–] green_jillie_bean 19 years ago

Okay, so not the best... But it was okay

The only thing I got out of this was that Harrison French hits a guy with his car, during a driving rainstorm, out on a lonely traffic-less road in the middle of nowhere and kills him. Why the guy was there - I never figured out:
*He robbed the bank with Chris.

Henderson, Harrison, and I guess James Spader's character, Willima Ashby, all seem to belong to some kind of secret society, but I never could figure out what that was about:
*The best I can explain this is that William Ashbury is a really rich and influential dude, and he has somehow learnt a couple of guys' dirty secrets. He then (I am guessing for his own amusement) plays around with them, making them attend a meeting every week and re-do their little sins over and over.

BUT then they do a twist and have Chris still alive, but not for long. Why is Chris killed? I don't know:
*Ashbury making Harrison re-do his sin...

The detective is still suspicious--he finally discovers the truth--how?--I don't know:
*He found a photo (taken by Ashubry) of the homeless guy taking money from a locker in his boss' desk and a faxnumber that led to Ashbury, then he asked his boss I think.

And it turns out Chris didn't do the robbery, some friend of his did. BUT Chris' mother and sister identified the body in the morgue as being Chris'. Why they didn't go ahead and do a DNA test on the body, I don't know:
*Chris and a junkie friend robbed the bank, and Harrison hits and kills the friend. When Ashbury found out he (I think) had a tatoo identical to Chris' put on the body and swapped the dead guy's DNA for Chris' which he got from some drug rehab place.

That's what I got from the movie - I only saw it the once, and although it was very unbelievable in parts, it wasn't that bad. Although, I really like James Spader, so I think I may be a little biased.
:)

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] mikecool4ever 19 years ago

reason he was out in the road was prolly related to the cops checking cars up a head .

Trusting another soul with my fate,showed me how easily love could turn to pure hate.

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[–] mfvaughn 19 years ago

I think they were hiding the getaway car. Perhaps he thought Harrison's car was Chris coming to pick him up or he was just caught there after hiding the car, crossing the road in a typical NW rainstorm.....Maybe? Who knows??

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[–] puzzle_queen 19 years ago

The cop put the tattoo on the dead guy. Did he lose his face the same way?
Remember the Spader guy saying "that just left the tattoo..." (to fake Chris's death)

I'm not clear about the movement of the money. How did the Spader guy get the money that was stolen from the bank to give to Harrison to put in the locker? Then how did Harrison get the money to put in the bag? And how did he have the gun?
Did Spader somehow get the guy into the road because Chris's father wanted him dead and this was all part of the setups going on in the group?
Yes, it was confusing.
Marianne

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[–] frankeeholly 19 years ago

wow, what a mess this movie is!! i'm glad to hear none of the posters on here understood it either; i figured with james spader in it, it's gotta be at least good, if not great....

well, i think the director went out of his way to pull a david lynch and be extra enigmatic, but sadly all we get here is bits and pieces of what could have been a cohesive storyline, instead of fragments of it...i would think it's actually difficult to direct a story that makes no sense whatsoever...it gives "plot holes" a whole new definition, lol!!

please excuse us - new signature search is in progress...

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[–] sebastiansmurf 18 years ago

okay, i, too, watched this & tho i got the overall gist, there were a lot of details that made NO sense to me! for instance:

- what was the deal with robin's sister continually coming on to robin's husband? flirting w/him SO openly & disrespectfully, & this was just completely ok w/everyone??!

- what was going on when spader was at the ball & the other guy's daughter or wife or whoever was walking away from him (& it showed all the men at the table just watching & making weird comments), pulling up/on her glove? was that supposed to mean that they had been up in his room having sex or had she been up there 'servicing' him? was he supposedly having sex w/these men's wives/daughters, as part of his blackmail or whatever?

- what was the deal with spader just suddenly appearing on robin's property that day, talking abt the people who used to live there & how they used to invite him over to eat? then, he just randomly walked away. i mean, did he LIVE around there? where did he come from? why was he there???

- and WHY was it that he couldn't accompany robin's sister to her ball, again? i mean, he still showed up there, anyway; so why couldn't he have been her date like they talked abt at first?

puzzle_queen, i, too, am puzzled abt the movement of the money.
* How did the Spader guy get the money that was stolen from the bank to give to Harrison to put in the locker?
from what i gathered, spader at some point (after the bank robbery, i guess) kidnapped chris & was holding him hostage. that's how spader originally would've gotten the money. now, after that, i have NO idea!

* Then how did Harrison get the money to put in the bag? And how did he have the gun?
i have NO idea!

i, too, wanted to know: did robin's dad set up for chris to be killed? how else would spader have been so involved w/the whole scenario (knowing where chris was; kidnapping him; etc.)?

there is just SO much of this movie that made NO sense whatsoever! ugh! but at least i'm glad i'm not the only one who didn't 'get' it. plus, i'm glad i didn't PAY to rent or see it!

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[–] pauzhaan 18 years ago

James Spader is just a bloated shadow compared to Michael Shanks.

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[–] puzzle_queen 18 years ago

This is a completely forgettable movie.
Marianne

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[–] 18 years ago

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