Walking Shadow Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES PLOT SUMMARY
As a favor to his longtime lover Dr. Susan Silverman, Spenser agrees to investigate the stalking of a theater company director, pro bono. But before he can get started, an actor is killed by an arrow in the middle of a play. Now that there's a real-life murder to investigate, Spenser and Hawk, get to do what they do best—even if it means death threats from the Chinese underworld, being ordered out of town by the tough local police chief (Eric Roberts), and dodging bullets and crossbows at every turn. By the time they leave the quaint ocean front community, the population has decreased by three, and live theater will never be the same.
| Joe Mantegna | Spenser |
| Ernie Hudson | Hawk |
| Marcia Gay Harden | Susan Silverman |
| Eric Roberts | Police Chief DeSpain |
| Tamlyn Tomita | Rikki Wu |
| Mackenzie Gray | Vinnie |
| Christopher Lawford | Jimmy Christopholous |
| Ronin Wong | Lonnie Wu |
| Chang Tseng | Fast Eddie Lee |
| Henry Mah | Herman Leong |
| Rick Tae | Liang |
| Scott Wickware | Healy |
| Alex Zahara | Lou Montana |
| Po-Chih Leong |
4.90 out of 10 (65 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Interesting Adaptation
posted on 21 Jun 2008Although Robert Urich captured the physicality of the Spenser character, Joe Mantegna carries off the character's flippant one-liners and quiet badass manner in a more mature manner. Mantegna's calm, reasonable explanation of his (Spenser's) job to the leader of a Chinese Tong is a dead on perfect novel-to-film translation.Unfortunately, some other parts of the movie don't hang as well. I love Ernie Hudson, but can't buy as him Hawk. But then again, who could follow Avery Brooks's portrayal of the character? If Brooks was unwilling to reprise his role, then it should have been renamed and given to another actor who could have made it his own. And Spenser's visions should have been more intergrated into the plot. Was he seeing these visions as a warning that he should get out of the private eye biz?Minor qubbles aside, I loved WALKING SHADOW as I've loved all of A&E's SPENSER movies and I hope they continue to produce them. Joe Mantegna seems as if he's really comfortable playing Spenser and he throws off them smart ass/sarcastic lines REAL good. I luv ya, Joe..
Walking in GREAT Suspence! Great Crime Thriller!
posted on 14 Mar 2006All I can say is this movie is very good. It's the 3rd instalment of the Spencer movies, and it is the best. Eric Robert is the reason I saw this and he is a great actor in this great film on A&E. Joe Montena is AWESOME as Spencer and the rest of the cast is so good. I'm glad they made these specil movies foe A&E. It's a trhiller about a who done it and you will be a little surprised at the ending. I was really into the story and the suspence and just plain old great acting by the whole cast. A must see for anybody who loves crime stories. Our of 4 stars I give it 3 1/2 stars. Watch and just enjoy!
Dreadful!
posted on 26 Jan 2004A perfectly ghastly entry in what was shaping up as an eagerly anticipated annual event, A&E's end-of-Summer dramatization of a Spenser novel.As I was initially fearful, the re-casting of Ernie Hudson was a blunder… a shaven head and a leather coat does not a "Hawk" make! The new co-henchman character of "Vinnie," who didn't have a line of dialogue in the entire screenplay, was infinitely more interesting. Hudson makes one long for the over-the-top version portrayed by Avery Brooks in the Robert Urich TV series and subsequent tele-flicks.The director… Po-Chih Leong, who somehow has made the transition from the Shanghai cinema school to teleflicks… must have seemed like a good choice given the setting, the Chinatown of an East Coast port city which is an entryway for an illegal alien smuggling scheme, apparently has seen one too many Ang Lee films, and tried mixing alternative points of view in a style reminiscent of the late '60s Roger Corman drug flicks. It detracted from an already incompletely realized narrative and was nothing more than an absurd stylistic conceit. (No cohesive story? Dazzle'em with camera-work!)Author Parker makes another of his fatuous, wordless cameos, and director Leong gives him a slow zoom close-up that suggested his character is to play a larger role in the narrative. Of course, he doesn't, and in that three second shot, Parker overacts on a par with Steven King in his cameos.Joe Mantegna was clearly hampered by the direction and the script (by Parker and his wife Joan, to whom all of his novels are dedicated). Even the always excellent Marcia Gay Harden was forced to struggle with a suddenly silly "Susan Silverman." Oddly, Eric Roberts comes off reasonably well in a role as a sympathetic villain, although that suffers from poor direction as well!What a disaster! I actively hated this tele-flick!
Any Spenser is a good Spenser
posted on 28 Nov 2008I can enjoy pretty much any adaption of a Parker novel and Walking Shadow lends itself pretty well. The major issue for these movies is casting. I'm getting used to Mantegna as Spenser but don't think I'll ever come to terms with Harden as Susan Silverman. I think that in Susan, Parker has created a character that cannot be satisfactorily duplicated. Also, Ernie Hudson is NOT Hawk. I always thought Dennis Haysbert would be a good match. Just an opinion.All in all, a good effort. Here's hoping A & E keeps putting these out.