Good will conquer evil, bring him to his knees and shoot him. It’s hard to judge this film unequivocally. The plot seems not fully thought out, the viewer still has a couple of questions, and the credits are already running on the screen. But in general, “Hour of Shadows” is quite edible and can even give pleasure to its mystery and gloom.
Balthazar Getty, pretty well after the “Law of revenge”, in the role of the main character looks quite convincing – a poor, modest drug addict trying to get rid of his addiction. By himself, Michael Holloway (the name of our main character) is a good person, he sincerely wants to “tire up”, please his pregnant wife (Rebekah Gayhart) and generally live better. But like any drug addict, Michael is weak in spirit, and when Stuart Chappel (Peter Weller), a strange person who introduced himself as a writer, who writes a new book based on the real life of the night city, Michael again happily plunges into the world of vices and passions, which, of course, does not contribute to the formation of peace and understanding in his family.
Meanwhile, several murders occur near the gas station where Michael works, and the police begin interviewing all possible witnesses. Detective Steve Andrianson (Peter Green), after interviewing Michael and his owner, encounters Chappel, and then it happens - boom! Joke, nothing happens, detective and writer, meaningfully looking each other in the eyes, disperse like a sea of ships, but Michael begins to look at his new friend and realizes that something is not clean.
The balance of power, if I understood the film correctly, is that. Chappel is the embodiment of evil, the devil in the flesh, who, showing Michael the bad side of life, tests the former drug addict for strength. Good and Light is Michael's wife, who tries to get him upstairs. The detective is neither to the village nor to the city, he will be of little use, and he will make a lot of noise, although, perhaps, he is a neutral side, the one that denies good and evil as concepts, but cares for justice.
The main mystery for me was the relationship between Chappel and Andrianson. The detective, participating in the operation to capture the “writer”, obviously wants to give him the opportunity to escape, the devil for some reason does not kill the detective, although at some point he has a great opportunity to do it. Why do they both hate each other, yet show tolerance and condescension? Question unanswered.
A couple of shots in "Hour of Shadows" is a real disgust, but overall the film is quite harmless. The eternal struggle between good and evil, although good is not so pronounced, and evil is not absolute. If you have nothing to do, but want to think about whether you are on the right path - I recommend.
6 out of 10
