It is a performances centric movie

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

This is an excellent 7 hour BBC mini-series about police corruption, drug trafficking and human frailty. Pitch dark, and no important character is without fault or sins. The performances are terrific. Chiwetel Ejiofor does very solid work as a detective returning to the job after having a bullet lodged in his brain when his partner is killed in a shooting. His memory has been damaged, so he can't remember that night, or if he and his partner were doing cop work, or were playing ball with the other side. It's a complex character, a man tortured by literally not knowing himself, not knowing his own secrets. Christopher Eccleston also does great work with an unusual and complicated role. If Ejiofor is a good guy, who may have been a bad one, then Eccelston is a bad guy with the soul of a good one. He just wants to get out with one last big score to help his sick wife, without hurting anyone. Stephen Rea is a lot of fun, if a bit one note as an ice cold super-baddie, and Rafe Spall creates a terrific, very different kind of scary bad guy -- one who is so odd, almost goofy, and quirky that it's hard to know when he's kidding, or when he'll suddenly go off in a big way. All the smaller roles are filled with top notch actors, making this a thriller that relies far more on complex behavior than shoot-outs for narrative drive and tension. There are a few frustrating plot cheats along the way, but less than most stories in this genre (the fact that it's generally so damn good, makes the few wonky moments stand out more.). Director-writer-producer Hugo Blick has a great eye for color and noirish framing, and a feel for messy morality that serves him very well here -- and even better in his more recent mini- series "The Honorable Woman." If you liked that, there's a good chance you'll like this, and vice-versa.

From writer/director Hugo Blick (who also played the young Jack Napier in Batman (1989)) comes The Shadow Line a stylised crime drama.I would emphasise the word stylised as sometimes Blick goes for a look or a scene than standard drama tropes. The lines regarding right and wrong, good or bad are blurred as we encounter twists and turns as people are different from what they claim to be or as we see them first.The drama is about a murder investigated by both sides of the line. The police and criminals, he opposing methods they use to solve it. But the real line is the morality within each character and how far they will go before they cross it and the secrets they all hide.Chiwetel Ejiofor is the cop with a potentially dark past. Christopher Eccleston is the bad guy who wants to go straight and do the right thing.Stephen Rea plays a character who looks like John Le Carre's George Smiley and seems to have walked out of a spy novel, the most sinister villain of them all, Le Carre probably wishes he invented such as character.Anthony Sher is another villain who has gone into hiding and re- invented himself but gets dragged back to his old life.The generally excellent acting adds intrigue, there is always a sense of dread especially when Rea is about and some of the deaths are strange such as a man run over and ends up plastered to the motorway road sign.The rather avant-garde filming style will not suit all tastes, it also may be slow for some as Hugo Blick gives his drama plenty of time to breath and even meander.

After seeing some very negative reviews on this site for this show i have felt compelled to write something of a reply. The acting in this production is absolutely amazing and the writing is superb and please let it be noted that:1: locking/not locking car doors is neither here nor there in this show (or in any other show come to think of it)... it could be argued, in fact that due to the type of characters involved that no-one would go anywhere near their vehicles anyway.2: smoking in a police office? seriously? these cops are involved in massive drug deals... oh yea, and murders!!!! i don't think they're to worried about smoking in an office!the fact that this show maintains and increases the suspense level throughout each episode without the use of any music whatsoever is indeed a credit to the writing and the acting. An excellent show well worth the watching.

I am a late comer to this one but I have to say.. This BBC drama was outstanding. The performances by the lead characters were as good as you will see on the small screen and the head to head moments between the dark and sinister protagonists are so tense they literally suck you to the edge of your seat then blast you back again in one intense moment, sheer genius. The plot has some excellent twists and turns and keeps you guessing in all the right places. If I have one complaint it is that the final episode is a little rushed. It really could have been doing with that bit of extra time and meticulous detail I had come to expect from the previous 6 episodes. A minor complaint in the grand scheme of things, still 10/10 and TV at its best in my book.