Shadowboxer is a 2005 crime thriller film starring Cuba Gooding Jr.., Helen Mirren, and Mo'Nique. It was the directorial debut of Lee Daniels, who by then had already served as a producer for Monster's Ball, and went on to direct Precious.
Tropes:
- Back-Alley Doctor: The credentials, however dubious, are there; still, he never asks questions, and all his patients seem to belong to the wrong side of the law.
- Book Ends: The movie opens and ends with a child learning to use a gun for the first time.
- The Cameo: Macy Gray is onscreen for just a few minutes.
- Dye or Die: Played with. Rose cuts Vickie's hair so that it will fit under a blonde wig. After a few years have passed, Vickie's hair has grown back and she's not wearing the wig anymore.
- Improbable Infant Survival: The reason Mikey ended up being raised by Rose.
- Vanessa Ferlito's character is heavily pregnant when her would-be killers meet her. They spare her. And the person who wanted her dead? The baby's father.
- Male Frontal Nudity: Clayton when distracted by voices in the next room.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: A justified example. Helen Mirren's "American accent" slips up but her character mentions "when I came to this country" implying that she is probably English and her natural accent has simply faded.
- Parental Incest: Mikey and his stepmother Rose.
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Scrawny Joseph Gordon Levitt with portly Mo'nique.
- Where da White Women At?: Mikey has two love interests over the course of the movie, both white women. Rose then later Vickie.
- Wig, Dress, Accent: Mikey dresses up as a call girl for a job. Also Vickie wears a wig for years to hide her identity.
- Woman Scorned: Precious spills the beans on Vickie's whereabouts when the doctor cheats on her.
