Great film on many fronts.

Rating: 7/10 (25 July 2015)

Great film. By now the down on his luck boxer who wins a very significant match just before the end of the fin has been done time and time again but this film has its own charm about it. The main character starting out as remarkably "flawed" creates a massive amount of sympathy for him as he evolves into someone much more responsible; someone that audience members want to see succeed. And although it took him losing everything to realize that change was needed, how he rose to the task created charisma for the character which sorely lacked in the beginning of the film. I thought that the film was very well casted with great performances from every corner. The simple dialogue (characters often repeating themselves in succession) gave the tone of the film a rawness to it that maintained my attention throughout. (Just couldn't wait to see what happened next) What also stood out to me was the cinematography during the fights. Great shots that captured the essence of the sport of boxing (which isn't really needed in a film where boxing is the focal point) whereas most boxing films point consistently to the characters, this film's fights did both. The fight choreography was very believable and not overdone. And the music score was perfect. Perhaps the only thing that gives this film a rating lower than 8 out of 10 stars, would be originality; as the battered boxer story is the paradigm for many great films. But this project definitely deserves a place among them.