Thanks for the memories!

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

This one reminds me of "that thing you do!". Fun to watch, romantic, not to complicated and entertaining. This DVD is a keeper.I got this DVD for free and didn't read the cover, so I didn't have any expectations. (I can only recommend this; don't read the backside of the DVD before seeing the movie...Let it surprise you) The story line was OK, despite a bit predictable.I'm not familiar with the mob, so a hit-man becoming friends with his mark (and daughter) sounds plausible to me. Modine wasn't there to kill Caan immediately; he had to wait until "the big boss" arrived. Leaving plenty time for bonding. Things went a bit to smooth for my liking, almost like a fairy tale. But I don't expect a movie to be real life footage. And there was enough violence to make sure it wasn't a fairy tale...Cuba had a minor role. He had to act like he was acting, which isn't easy, so it looked a bit unnatural, like it should. James Caan was perfectly casted, great actor.Joey Lauren Adams and Mathew Modine weren't type casted, which I prefer. In real life we can't always judge books by their covers either. Reminding me of Tom Hanks in "Road to Perdition"....

I watched this film with anticipation. Could it get better, could it get any worse? Well the answer was NO on both counts.Cuba Gooding was obviously NOT a bad guy. Matthew Modine was wooden and not a sympathetic character AT ALL. James Caan usually looks good and he lived up to that...though his character was a blank piece of paper, no life, no substance.The array of Familia were cookie cuttered, I couldn't keep track of who was who. I finally started naming them bad guy in the limo, bad guy looks like Sinatra, bad guy stool pigeon and big fat bad guy.If it promised to be a mob movie, it failed. If it promised to be a love story.....ewwww.If it was meant to be a behind the scenes stunt movie....I can't go on...the best I can say is James Caan usually looks good.So I gave it a 2.

Granted the premise for the movie and the plot is a little far fetched. The end result is a decent mafia related movie intertwined with the stunt industry in Miami. *****SPOILER*****The money/drug story is kept quiet until the end and seemed like the producers were just trying to squeeze the angle into the movie. An unexpected ending leads into a cheezy end scene with Caan and Adams. Overall (B-).

"In The Shadows" tells of a hitman with a conscience (Modine) who becomes a stuntman because this dumdass flick wouldn't work if he didn't. Ill-conceived, sophomorically contrived, poorly written, and poorly directed, this flick is long of atmospherics and short on everything else. One can only watch and wonder how Caan, Adams, Modine, and Gooding climbed aboard such a shabby project. A waste of time for all but diehard fans of the principals and maybe people with some interest in film stunts. (D+)