The Boxer

The Boxer is a 1997 Irish sports drama film written and directed by Jim Sheridan and co-written by Terry George. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Emily Watson, and Brian Cox, the film centres on the life of a boxer and former Provisional IRA volunteer Danny Flynn, played by Day-Lewis, who is trying to "go straight" after his release from prison. The film is the third collaboration between Sheridan and Day-Lewis and portrays the increase of splinter groups within the IRA. In preparation for the role, Daniel Day-Lewis trained as a boxer in Ireland for a year.
==Plot==
Former Irish pugilist and Provisional IRA member Danny Flynn returns home to Belfast from a 14-year stint in prison at the age of 32. Weary of the unbroken cycle of violence in Northern Ireland, he attempts to settle down and live in peace. After meeting his drink-sodden old trainer Ike, Danny starts a non-sectarian boxing club for boys in an old gymnasium.
While fixing up the old building, however, he runs across a cache of explosives (Semtex) hidden underneath the stage. He throws the cache into the river.
Danny's action infuriates Harry, a bitter and ruthless IRA lieutenant. Danny reconnects with an old flame, Maggie, now married to an imprisoned IRA man and required by the IRA code to remain faithful to him. Their relationship dominates much of the film.
Harry sees Danny and Maggie's relationship as a way to undermine the authority of her father, Joe Hamill, the grim but war-weary local IRA commander working for peace. Harry feuds with Danny, assassinating the kindly police officer who donates equipment to the boxing club. The murder causes a riot at one of Danny's boxing matches. During the riot, the gymnasium is burnt down by Liam, the young son of Maggie, who thinks Danny and his mother are going to elope.
Eventually, Harry and some other IRA men kidnap Danny and take him away to be executed. Then, in a last-minute twist, the IRA gunman shoots Harry instead of Danny, thus eliminating a rogue agent. With her son Liam in the car, Maggie picks up Danny and they all drive home together.
==Cast==
* Daniel Day-Lewis as Danny Flynn
* Emily Watson as Maggie
* Brian Cox as Joe Hamill
* Ken Stott as Ike Weir
* Gerard McSorley as Harry
* Ian McElhinney as Reggie Bell
* Ciarán Fitzgerald as Liam
Category:1997 films
Category:1990s sports drama films
Category:Films from Northern Ireland
Category:Irish sports drama films
Category:Irish boxing films
Category:Films about The Troubles (Northern Ireland)
Category:Films about the Irish Republican Army
Category:Films directed by Jim Sheridan
Category:Films set in Belfast
Category:Universal Pictures films
Category:1997 drama films
Category:1990s English-language films
Category:English-language sports drama films