Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Celia A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Spikeopath Billy "Shiner" Simpson (Michael Caine) is building up to his big boxing promoting night, the headline of which is his own son, Eddie "Golden Boy" Simpson (Matthew Marsden). But family troubles begin to weigh heavy, a police investigation closes in on him and a rival American promoter is breathing down his neck. It's going to get messy.Surprisingly for a Michael Caine British gangster movie, Shiner is a little under known. A shame because it's really rather good. Caine himself felt that by 2000 the cinema loving public had had enough of British films of this type, hence why it did poorly at the box office and quickly disappeared into the retail chain of things.It's basically a reworking of King Lear, in London and with Caine on super form. Billy Simpson is a grade "A" noir protagonist, the world he inhabits is ultimately too much for him, there's treachery and dishonesty – violence and disappointments, all around him, but still he ploughs on as if he will eventually become the king of the castle. Yet this is the noirville area of London, of grubby bars and grey landscapes, the hall playing host to Billy's big night is a place of stale cheese sandwiches and blocked toilets.On either side of Billy are his two henchman played by Frank Harper and Andy Serkis, two sides of the same coin they are, though they menace in different ways. Billy's two daughters played by Claire Rushbrook and Frances Barber, also two sides of the same coin, but conversely they have different love for their father. Martin Landau is the smooth American promoter with a dame on his arm and a grudge for Billy, and Gary Lewis and Kenneth Cranham fill out important roles as characters caught in Billy's soon to be maelstrom.Caine did say that he considers Shiner to be part of a trilogy that comprises Get Carter and Mona Lisa. Shiner isn't close to being as good as those two movies, especially the sublime Get Carter, but it holds its head up high in such company and fans of those movies should seek it out. 8/10

johnnyboyz 'Shiner' is another addition to the growing number of gangster films released over the past half a dozen years or so but unlike better known crime films, it doesn't take a multi-strand, multiple characters, neo-realistic approach to itself. Instead, it relies on revenge as its main plot drive and, in my opinion, manages to pull it off in some style.Although the film is rather flawed in numerous places throughout, it stays clear of horrible stereotypes and clichéd dialogue whilst maintaining a healthy atmosphere, throughout. The film is spilt into two distinguishable halves. The first half consists of the build up around a boxing match, allowing the film to let off some amusing scenes mixed in with some snappy dialogue and impressive acting. The emphasis on the fact our heroes have everything to loose is also mixed in, adding to the tension. The feeling of doubt and nervousness is also built up in an impressive way with certain things in the film lingering in the background, tempting the viewer to ask themselves if it was anything significant. These things include the lingering man with the baseball cap and the inaudible dialogue between the American boxing opponents with other people. All these things are seen from 'Shiner' Simpon's (Caine) point of view, forcing us to relate to him the most; another effective method.The second half of the film consists solely of a revenge/detective strand. Without giving anything away, Simpson must track down a killer on a personal vendetta. How the film goes from build up around a boxing match to out and out revenge film is actually rather impressive and seemingly seamless. The familiarity of the two supporting characters in Stoney (Harper) and Mel (Serkis; who is both 'Gollum' and 'King Kong') make everything feel like it really is the world vs. one man and his crew. Throughout this second half, it's difficult to take your eyes away from the screen as any minute detail may actually turn out to be the turning point in the quest. Everything from tiny suspicions to intense scenes where you think Simpson has found his man and is about to do something terrible to them in an act of revenge; some of which include pinning a defenceless lawyer against the wall and pointing a gun at a pregnant woman's belly.Even if the character of Mel is a little over the top at times and does veer a little too close to the stereotype line in terms of actions and dialogue and the fact the second half of the film does rely heavily on cause and effect in finding out clues as to where to go next, Shiner relies on unpredictability, a nice twist and good acting to see it through, despite the disappointing ending and leaving some questions left unanswered. Overall, it's a healthy addition to the British crime genre and makes for fun viewing.

paul2001sw-1 Michael Caine plays very much to type in this film about a tough East-End boxing promoter. The film, which is not, it quickly becomes apparent, a sports movie (the only fight scene comes early and is deliberately anticlimactic), but it seems to be struggling to decide what exactly it is. In part, it is the story of the death of a dream; but in part, it is a thriller and these two parts don't really get on. The thriller element is weakened by the fact that because we only see the story of Caine's character's decline, we have no way to judge what malign forces may be behind it; but in fact, there is plenty of material to explain his fall without requiring a sinister plot, and so the thriller obscures the portrait of a man. In fact, the resulting hybrid is so anaemic as a whole that it almost feels stylised, I don't think intentionally, but there's a flatness that gives the movie a feel of its own, albeit not a successful one. Yet there are some interesting ideas behind the plot; it's a shame they're so poorly worked out.

The_Triad Shiner is a film that effectively blended many genres, but just couldn't pull off a decent ending. The film begins as a character/boxing/gangster film, that holds it's own, until it takes the tone of a mystery thriller, and still keeps interest, largely down to a great performance from Michael Caine.At times, Shiner shows some real potential, with some great scenes and dialogue fleshed out by some decent performances, once it settled into itself, it was still engaging and kept my interest until the ending, where a resounding feeling of "that's it?" surfaced.Shiner is a good film at times, and could've been great if it had a better ending. It is worth watching though, largely for a blinding performance from Michael Caine.