American Cinema at its Finest

Rating: 10/10 (4 June 2005)

If you care in the least about American Cinema - Go see this film! It is absolutely spectacular, and exactly the kind of thing we must encourage Hollywood to make. A must see for all ages it's an emotion evoking story about where America has been and where it is going. Superbly balanced, It pulls at the heart-string, makes you grind your teeth in suspense, and make you want to jump from your seat. My audience actually applauded this movie TWICE; once at the end and also during the movie at a particularly poignant moment. Now get this: The women liked it. My audience was a good mix of all ages, and after the film I heard a woman in her forties say "This is the first boxing movie I ever liked", another random woman answered her, "Yeah because it wasn't really about boxing". And she was right. It is a redemption story, one of the best ever put on screen. And it had just the right amount of solid boxing action, again very well done. They didn't cheat. No fancy camera work of frenetic editing was used in the normal lame attempts to punch up the action. This was shot true, with smooth shots, cut at a pace that allowed you to absorb what you were seeing. No jerky cliché steady cam that makes your head hurt. It was visually perfect. And what a story! A true story. An American story. I can't remember any film that so pulls the viewer in to the difficulty that so many suffered during the great depression of the twenties. This film really made you feel it, without forcing it, without contrivance. Just a truly excellent film on all levels. I had tears in my eyes by the midpoint and just couldn't make them go away. Bravo! Go see this film.