Shade

Shade is a 2003 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed and written by Damian Nieman and starring Stuart Townsend, Gabriel Byrne, Thandiwe Newton, Jamie Foxx, Melanie Griffith and Sylvester Stallone. The film follows a trio of grifters who attempt to set up a legendary card shark nicknamed "The Dean". The film had a limited release in the United States on May 7, 2004. Plot In an underground mob poker game, a man is revealed to be cheating with a hole card when the game gets robbed. He manages to defend himself as a huge gunfight breaks out, leaving all dead but him and one gangster. They get into a Mexican standoff. Hustlers Tiffany and Charlie Miller meet up with poker player Larry Jennings as he's winning a game. They agree to a partnership to work a game with a potential profit of $20,000. Larry meets the third member of the team, Vernon, a card mechanic who is working as a blackjack dealer. In a flashback, Vernon switches out the contents of a six deck shoe as his accomplices take the casino for $40,000. That night, as Vernon and Charlie wait for Larry, corrupt cop Scarne shakes them down. Larry arrives and agrees to team with them after seeing Vernon's skills - in the game, he will bet high on Vernon's crooked deals. At the game, Larry gets impatient with the slow action and, on his own deal, gets over $100,000 in the pot. He loses; the money he bet belongs to a mobster named Malini, who sends his enforcers Marlo and Nate to retrieve him. They take him to the house, revealing it had been stripped bare - everyone at the game was in on the con. They then take Larry to an airport and kill him.