Post by BIGFANBOY on Apr 24, 2009 4:49:48 GMT -5
FIGHTING
Review by Gary Dean Murray
Channing Tatum is becoming a major actor. The former Step Up star has been working hard to get past the teen roles and into more mature work. He was in the anti-war film Stop Loss, a dramatic role that distanced him from his 'cute boy' image. His latest is a street-fighting action drama Fighting.
The story of Fighting is of Shawn MacArthur (Channing Tatum), a small town kid in the big city. Through the back story, we find that he is the son of a champion coach. He is also disgraced do to an incident in college. But as the tale unfolds, we find that Shawn is trying to do the famous NYC hustle, selling stuff on the sidewalk. A confrontation between a couple of goons shows that Shawn has a knack for bare knuckles fighting. This catches the interest of Harvey Boarden (Terrence Howard), a street hustler looking for the next big thing.
After finding Shawn, Harvey offers the kid $5,000 if he'll take on a local fighter in a very illegal brawl. Since Shawn has nothing, he agrees to this uneasy partnership. We soon discover that Harvey is not the respected man he claims to be but a two-bit lowlife.
When Shawn wins his first match, there is some instant buzz on the street. Shawn is just happy that he has some coin in his pockets. At a club, he meets Zulay (Zulay Henao), a waitress with a young daughter and a wily grandmother. Always the optimist, Shawn never gives in his pursuit of this fair young lass.
The film is Shawn's accession into the upper level of this 'sport' while trying to win the girl of his dreams. Into the mix is a fighting challenge from a former rival. It is his “I don't want to lose” attitude that could be his undoing.
The look of the film is a homage to the work put out in the early 1970s. New York is a gritty, dirty city full of difficult individuals who do not seem to have many choices in the world. Every character in Fighting is fighting both physically and economically to make themselves a better life. These are people kept down who claw just to make it up one rung of the ladder.
It takes a bit of a stretch to see Channing Tatum as a tough guy fighter, but he does do a convincing job as the kid who just wants to prove himself. Where a grittier actor would have given Shawn a more desperate feel, Channing puts a glimmer of hope in every punch. He delivers his lines more on the light side which is in stark contrast to the world of Fighting.
The same cannot be said for Terrance Howard as Harvey. With a mishmash drawl, Harvey comes across more as a simpleton than a savvy manager. There is some unexplained pain in his life before the movie, but it is never acknowledged or referenced. It is as if he is and always a down and out hustler. His performance just doesn't work.
Director Dito Montiel had to have been a fan of all those old school flicks from decades past. He finds a mix between Taxi Driver and Midnight Cowboy with just a little bit of Raging Bull added in. Except for the ending, the film could have been a product of a previous era.
While not an engaging film, Fighting is a nice diversion. There are enough fighting sequences to keep the action junkies satisfied and enough emotional impact to keep the narrative film freaks contented. Though it does drag along at times, it is still a fine flick to catch.
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