will-hartman I have seen many indie feature films in my years on the festival circuit. Usually they suffer from that other variation of the indie 'rule of three'--the one that says you'll get two of the following but never all three: high production value, a good story, quality performances. Well this film to my surprise and pleasure does have all three. I was hooked almost from the outset by the look and feel of the film--a tale of gritty survival on the mean streets of the prize-fighting circuit--and the performance of the main character who managed to take the stereotypical boxer against the world and add a measure of depth and emotion that was different from other similar genre constructed characters. The direction was stellar, both in the technical aspects of camera movement and in the subtle emotional cues that sent the story spinning in an unexpected, and refreshing, direction. The writing and acting are very solid, and Eddie O'Flaherty is a director with a very bright future. I had the pleasure to meet him in a directing class, which is how I came to see his film in the first place, and I was taken not only with his natural ability to paint pictures with words and description, but his charming, humble personality. If you stumble across this film in the video store, do yourself a favor, rent it and sit down and watch it. You will be impressed with the production value (I have an idea of the actual budget, but if you told me this cost over 1 million, I wouldn't doubt it for a second), the cinematography and the lush feel of a big budget film. The only reason you don't already know of this film is because of the unfortunate timing of it's release--sandwiched between Cinderella Man and that little film about female boxers starring Clint Eastwood. Sadly, those two films covered much of the ground this film does, though the story contained here is quite original and will take you on a second act turn of events you do not expect. The filmmakers should be very proud of the work done here and I look forward to seeing what is next on the horizon for Mr. O'Flaherty.

ekeby I wouldn't have watched this, except that I'm working my way through gay cinema. I find boxing absolutely THE lowest form of entertainment. I understand that many people like watching fights and fight movies but for me that's just a sad commentary on the human condition.So, while this was on I had one eye on a magazine for the first third or so. By midpoint, I got interested and stopped reading the magazine. By three-quarters in, I was totally involved.I thought the performances were all good. I was conscious of the score reinforcing the mood maybe a little too much. I liked this movie, even though I generally have little respect for the genre. I could appreciate Million Dollar Baby, but I didn't particularly like it. This movie I liked. That probably has more to do with my being gay than anything else.

gweatherford It's all been done before, more or less. The production values were pretty low on the spectrum. The actor playing the manager was so hyped that I was almost certain to be in for the letdown I felt. The ending, to me, felt a bit unfair to one character's integrity.It isn't anything to write home about, plot-wise. Washed up boxer/manager turned English teacher "discovers" angry, washed-up boxer and former Olympic hopeful. Each has their demons. Each needs each other. Both start to blossom until circumstances test them both professionally and emotionally. Sound familiar? Adding a few doses of character study and melodrama to an old mix does not make it any less familiar (and yellowing with age).I'm waiting, truth be told, for a new kind of boxing movie to emerge. The variations on Stallone have so little left to tweak out; and even though I liked both this movie and Clint Eastwood's recent foray into the genre, the attempt of each to manipulate and personalize the genre feels contrived, often forced, and derivative. Even the one part of this movie that seems significantly different, that the manager is highly literate and even poetic, somehow seems a bit stilted in the overall course of the film.Still, the movie has some real power, and even some real surprise. JP Davis (and maybe I am saying this because he is exceptionally sexy) has a real smoldering star quality about his performance, as well as a few beautifully touching choices as an actor. His reaction to some darker developments in the story, both as character and as actor, seem just subtle and nuanced enough to be believable, wrenching and even quietly surprising. After viewing the film, I also realized that one part of the usual formula had a bit of a shift in this film: while the main character certainly has his clichéd meteoric rise in rank, there are moments where he actually wins fights but shows bad form and is anything but coveted in the mainstream boxing circles. Most boxing films seem to make greatness in the sport all about winning, knocking people out regardless of form and execution, while this one makes a few very small steps to point out that a win is not all that is being looked at in championship fighting.Overall, I had a good feeling from the movie and would recommend it. It left me thinking, ad I always appreciate that in a film. I wish the manager had been less about pretty words and trite mantras, however. I wish that there had been an ending that was a little less manipulative. I still cannot deny that I was moved and even quite thrown back by the writer/star whom I had never heard of, and whom I believe may be a force to reckon with if the right people find him.

nimbleweevil I'll admit upfront that I am a world-class bawl-baby and it's not hard for a movie to make me cry. I cry when I watch a movie that's depressing, uplifting, frightening, adorable, funny, or - more than anything - clearly shot from the heart and at the heart. Therefore, it should surprise no one that Fighting Tommy Riley, which was all of the above, made me sob.The back-cover story is not what one would call original - in fact, it sounds like a rip-off of the wonderful Million Dollar Baby. Old, washed-up second-class has-been meets young, wide-eyed, unstoppable ready-to-take-on-the-world talent and together they make the perfect team, which eventually carries them both to some kind of championship. It even has all the usual heart-of-gold character twists that we know from movies like M$B - young talent is pursued by steel-hearted bigwigs but displays unwavering loyalty to trainer, trainer becomes the parent young talent never had, and eventually, unspeakable tragedy strikes. But this old, washed-up plot has found its way to a young, unstoppable talent - writer and star J.P. Davis - and he has done some beautiful things with it.The performances of Davis and co-star Eddie Jones are electrifying. Jones's monologue (delivered by his character, Marty Goldberg, to the frank, temperamental Tommy) about why it's wrong to judge is a gem on the level of Ellen Burstyn's monologue from Requiem for a Dream. The cabin-in-the-woods scene (those who have seen the film know exactly what I'm talking about, and those who haven't are in for a cinematic treat) is also a thing of beauty, put together in just the right way to wrench at the viewer's heart. Yet the movie manages not to preach, and this in itself is a thing of wonder - when something is told from the heart, it's hard not to get on the soapbox.This should be the point where I say that this disturbing and, at times, extremely adult movie is not for everyone, and I agree that it will probably be lost on young children. It is for everyone else. You will fall in love with these characters, and when it turns out that they aren't (are? I actually figured out what was going on early in the movie) exactly what they seem, you, like Tommy Riley, will find it very hard to abandon them.The gentle, up-close-and-personal style of cinematography was well-deserving of this award it's already won, and Eddie O'Flaherty's direction is the work of a man who knows what he wants and how to get it. The ending is a little hokey, but not so much that it ruins what has already come.I once heard someone say that all boxing movies are great. Excluding all of the ridiculous Rocky sequels, I have to agree with him, though I'm not sure this is so much a boxing movie as a movie about men - REAL men, not great epic-hero conquerers. As a result, you will connect with Tommy and Marty in a way you never connected with William Wallace, Maximus, and Alexander, and you won't be forgetting it soon.Grade: A-.