Coming off Project Nim and his Academy Award win for Man on Wire, director James Marsh has returned to narrative territory for latest film, Shadow Dancer. We were a bit mixed on the film at its Sundance premiere (review here), and now the first trailer has arrived this morning from the UK. Andrea Riseborough plays a terrorist turned informant for the MI5, amongst a cast that also includes Clive Owen, Gillian Anderson, Domhnall Gleeson, Martin McCann and The Wire‘s Aidan Gillen.
Director Marsh has received much claim for his documentaries, and hopefully he will be able to continue with his skills in this format. Based on the trailer, it looks to be a thriller more in line with something like Munich or Michael Clayton than the Bourne series. Trailers, however, are often deceiving. Some early reception for the film has been mixed, including our own, and word is that this one is much slower-paced than this marketing indicates. However, that is not always a bad thing. What matters is the building of tension, and if the political information relayed on screen is dense and intriguing, rather than dull and confusing, this could be a winner. Watch the trailer below.
Synopsis:
Single mother Collette McVeigh (Andrea Riseborough) is a Republican living in Belfast with her mother and hardliner IRA brothers. When she is arrested for her part in an aborted IRA bomb plot in London, an MI5 officer Mac (Clive Owen) offers her a choice: lose everything and go to prison for 25 years or return to Belfast to spy on her own family. With her son’s life in her hands, Collette chooses to place her trust in Mac and return home, but when her brothers’ secret operation is ambushed, suspicions of an informant are raised and Collette finds both herself and her family in grave danger.
Shadow Dancer will hits UK theaters this August US theaters in May 2013.