Take everything you thought you knew about boxing movies ... and forget it.
Instead of a movie about someone looking to break into the sport, here is a movie about someone looking to break into Life, having wasted most of theirs. And boxing is all he knows.
It is a testament to the skill of the writer and director that, by the time the big fight arrives, you the audience don't have a clue how it will turn out. That by itself is an accomplishment.
Speaking of accomplishments, Harris hands us one of the most amazing performances I have ever seen. To re-use a tired cliché, he literally delivers most of his dialog in this film with his eyes.
And Winstone may possibly have delivered one of the most subtle and nuanced performances of his career, and makes max use of every second of screen time.
You could possibly say it is a modern update of Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962). Or you could simply call it what it is -- an extraordinary movie.
Recommended? Hell, yes.
((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))
Instead of a movie about someone looking to break into the sport, here is a movie about someone looking to break into Life, having wasted most of theirs. And boxing is all he knows.
It is a testament to the skill of the writer and director that, by the time the big fight arrives, you the audience don't have a clue how it will turn out. That by itself is an accomplishment.
Speaking of accomplishments, Harris hands us one of the most amazing performances I have ever seen. To re-use a tired cliché, he literally delivers most of his dialog in this film with his eyes.
And Winstone may possibly have delivered one of the most subtle and nuanced performances of his career, and makes max use of every second of screen time.
You could possibly say it is a modern update of Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962). Or you could simply call it what it is -- an extraordinary movie.
Recommended? Hell, yes.
((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))