Not counting Watson, the best part of The Boxer is its atmosphere. There are shots of checkpoints, security gratings and armored cars stenciled with anonymous tip-line numbers. Director Jim Sheridan also provides some details of the war in Ulster that might be news to some. To give contrast to the urban decay, there's a confusing visit to the tuxedoed decadence of a British boxing club. Sheridan, who directed Day-Lewis in My Left Foot, frames this tale of the Troubles as a standard melodrama.
Predictability ends up being both the virtue and weakness of such entertainment.
It's easy to follow and easy to outguess. Day-Lewis shows the unhappy signs of metamorphosing from actor to movie star. There's a slumming movie star's calculation in his close-ups and a desperate physicality in his boxing scenes. The fakery of Sheridan's fight scenes is very much post- Raging Bull . These fights defy the fact that in boxing few of the blows connect.