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 would want them made with the finest ingredients.
Shades of Black is loosely based on the updated book of the same name by Canadian journalist Richard Siklos. The story of Black's life, from the suicide of his father to his betrayal by his right-hand man, David Radler, is rich pasture for any scriptwriter or director - too rich, it turns out, for the crew who shaped this movie.
It jumps back and forth jarringly between the decades: Conrad at the height of his powers, as the enfant terrible, as the fledgling newspaper owner in Quebec, as the arrogant executive under siege at a shareholders' meeting in New York, as the endearingly shy young suitor of his fawning secretary and, years later, of the glamorous and bitchy Barbara Amiel (Flynn Boyle).
The construct is made all the more awkward by the use of the fictionalised reporter Jeff Sargeant (Jason Priestley of Beverly Hills 90210) whose interviews with Black trigger the various flashbacks. I had trouble making sense of the mess and I have been following
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| The movie doesn’t decide whether Black is a crook - though it has no doubts that he’s a pompous ass |
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Black's career for the better part of two decades. Pity the viewer who has no idea what 'non-compete' payments are.
Some things work. The most convincing character is Radler (Jason Schombing), who plays the manic and crude hatchet man ("screw the unions") and, later, the paranoid Judas to good effect. It is he, not Black, who comes across as the evil schemer.
In the film, Black (the beefy Schultz) pays little attention to the business details. He's too busy indulging Barbara ("I have an extravagance that knows no bounds"), running around in private jets and Rolls-Royces, schmoozing the rich and famous and building his empire.
Is he a crook? The movie doesn't go there; that's for the courts to decide.
The viewer of Shades of Black might conclude he's just a pompous ass who lived the good life until Radler brought him down. 
FIRST POSTED DECEMBER 1, 2006
Shades of Black airs on the CTV network, Dec 4. There are no plans yet to show it in the UK
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