As a viewer one must always be wary of a film that is produced (or co-produced) by one of its stars. Especially when the star is a minor talent at best, such is the case with “Shadow Hours”, a film that tries half-heartedly to shock and fails fully. Early on it is quite apparent that we are going to be treated to Balthazar Getty giving yet another of his patented one note performances, even though the role requires much more. Fret not though, to make up for Mr. Getty’s shortcomings we have Peter Weller doing his impression of the cool, rich guy whom, for some reason, has far too much time on his hands.
The story is relatively simple … young, hunky, recovering addict Michæl Halloway (Getty) and his pregnant wife (Rebecca Gayheart) are struggling to make ends meet. They anticipate no relief in the foreseeable future when an unknown man struts into the gas station where Halloway is forced to spend his evenings. For the rest of the film our poor hero struggles with the temptations brought on by this new glamorous lifestyle of endless parties, drugs and strippers until the end where he must confront his demons and help solve a completely unnecessary sub-plot in which Peter Greene and Michæl Dorn (arguably the most unconvincing cops since Chris Rock in “LW4”) solve a murder case.
If these few ludicrous plot points have put you off on this film, have faith, there are more that have not been mentioned and they do not get any smarter or more interesting. Apparently the big question is not how awful is “Shadow Hours” but how did a film of this caliber get accepted into the Sundance Film Festival? This may be another one of those mysteries that will never be fully answered comprehended.
