Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull became the classic it is, by daring to deal with the "anti - Rocky"; a hungry contender whose skill and courage in the ring, fail to hide from us, his many horrific flaws, which include a deep - seated misogyny and raging homophobia.
Ben Younger's Bleed for This, could have taken a leaf out of Scorese's book in centering his story on the life of former world champion boxer Vinny Pazienza. Besides being an extremely talented fighter, who courageously came back from a potentially career threatening neck injury (the focus of this film) to take another world title, he also had an extensive criminal record which include alcohol-related crimes, domestic violence, passing bad checks, and disorderly conduct. Hells bells, the bloke even tried to sue (unsuccessfully) the producers of this film for more money than he was already receiving.
So what does Younger give us? Just another boxing film with a very much air - brushed, blemish - free portrait of its protagonist. If you like boxing films, you'll likely be drawn to this one with its narrative of Vinny Paz drawn as a rough around the edges kind of nice guy, with his back against the wall and the odds continually loaded against him. But despite the movie's good production values and very competent acting, I found the storyline overly derivative and extremely run of the mill, to its detriment. There's just nothing special or unusual to see here. I think awarding it 6/10 is generous, when it never came close to knocking me out.
Ben Younger's Bleed for This, could have taken a leaf out of Scorese's book in centering his story on the life of former world champion boxer Vinny Pazienza. Besides being an extremely talented fighter, who courageously came back from a potentially career threatening neck injury (the focus of this film) to take another world title, he also had an extensive criminal record which include alcohol-related crimes, domestic violence, passing bad checks, and disorderly conduct. Hells bells, the bloke even tried to sue (unsuccessfully) the producers of this film for more money than he was already receiving.
So what does Younger give us? Just another boxing film with a very much air - brushed, blemish - free portrait of its protagonist. If you like boxing films, you'll likely be drawn to this one with its narrative of Vinny Paz drawn as a rough around the edges kind of nice guy, with his back against the wall and the odds continually loaded against him. But despite the movie's good production values and very competent acting, I found the storyline overly derivative and extremely run of the mill, to its detriment. There's just nothing special or unusual to see here. I think awarding it 6/10 is generous, when it never came close to knocking me out.