The Featherweight

Think early, stripped-down Scorsese, before the big budgets (Ex. Italianamerican meets American Boy meets Mean Streets.) Shows the Italian-American experience, both the beautiful and the ugly bits, and just asks you to sit with it. This is not a flashy movie, if that's what you're looking for. It's a chronicle of a life.

And that chronicle is well-acted. Ron Livingston and Stephen Lang stand out as the most recognizable faces. But James Madio brings a pep (pun intended) and vigor to Willie Pep's pain, keeping him likable, if never completely forgivable, yet always the guy you're rooting for. It's quite a feat.

"The Featherweight" is more than just the story of Willie Pep, former Featherweight Champion of the World. Pep is now in his forties, down on his luck and contemplating an ill-advised return to the ring. Told from the viewpoint of a documentary film crew memorializing this comeback attempt, the film bridges the divide between moviemaking and reality.

James Madio IS Willie Pep, coping with life away from the boxing ring, the only life he has known since childhood. Trying to survive while attempting to keep up appearances as he recognizes that he is a hero to his people and fans in his hometown of Hartford, CT. Madio literally disappears into the role. Ruby Wolf is wonderful as his young wife with her own dream to follow as she tells Willie that he had his chance. Keir Gilchrist as his troubled son, Billy, is as good as it gets. I particularly liked Stephen Lang, as Bill Gore, Pep's trainer and close friend. This movie, unlike most others I've seen in recent years, rings true. Not a false or gratiuitous note in the story. I recommend it highly, if you can take a dose of reality with your moviegoing experience.

The begning and ending is good, but inbetween everything is made in a very uninteresting way.

Looks like a 5 year old kid was operating the camera. Random camera movement, zoom .. May be this is a creative decision but this spoilt teh expirence of watching a good film. It just gives a bad headache when you watch on big screen.

I watched it at the international film festival of India 2023 as the closing film. Sad to see that most of the audiance dropped half way through the film, The rest were using mobile or sleeping.

The story was interesting for audiance interested in boxing, but if this was done in a more audiance friendly way, it would have become a great film.

When watching a boxing movie, you think you know what to expect, but this really flipped the genre on its head. It showed the non-gloried, authentic world of boxing, brought to life by stunning performances. James Madio and Ruby Wolf really delivered knock out performances, pun intended. The writing is smart, and interweaves the archival footage and boxing scenes really nicely. It takes a second to get used to the camera style, but it works really nicely.

If you're a real fan of boxing, I'd recommend this movie. It will give you a look behind the curtain, especially at a late stage boxer. I also loved the Hartford locations.

The Featherweight is a refreshingly creative approach to the sports biopic driven by the smoldering performances of leads Madio and Wolf.

It's a tight script that knows when to breathe, and it comes with a well-drawn cast. I also enjoyed that the period accuracy wasn't built from obvious milestones, and instead existed only within the immediacy of Willie Pep's experience. In the end, the story lived in a moral grey area that was neither inspirational nor cautionary, and instead felt real.

Overall I found it a very smooth and enjoyable watch, with enough levity to balance the pathos. It could probably lose a few minutes but it would be difficult to decide which scene to drop and there's not any real fat to cut.

I hope this film gets the wide release it deserves.