Split Decisions

Gene Hackman plays the part of Dan McGuinn, a prizefighter as his father was and as his sons are, in this ragged tale of a scrappy Irish family in New York City, pointedly devoid of female members. All of the McGuinns, including sons Ray (Jeff Fahey), a professional, and Eddie (Craig Sheffer), a Golden Gloves champion and future Olympic aspirant, have been living together although Ray has moved elsewhere as the action begins, and as he attempts to climb into the upper ranks of the middleweight division. To do this, he has signed a contract to be managed by a rival of his father in order to better advance his chances, which creates an emotional fence between father and son. Partially filmed in the Hell's Kitchen district of New York, the work deals largely with Ray's unintentional involvement with a mob-connected boxing figure and the impact this has upon the four McGuinns. Publicity for the film avers that the ring backgrounds of director David Drury (an amateur in the U.K.) and of stunt boss Paul Stader lend authenticity to the fight scenes; however, this is far from the case. In fact, there is an enormous problem with the boxing footage being widely separate from reality, the final bout being grotesquely silly. Additionally, the direction fails to generate a sense of tension and largely bypasses that which would make a viewer buy into the scenario: exploration of the conflict between the N.Y.P.D. officer father and his wayward older son. Technical aspects of the editing are handled with competence but widespread cutting haunts the piece, increasing incredulity, particularly when joined by a poorly composed and cliche-flooded script. Fahey gives a strong performance, and his scenes with only Sheffer are probably the film's best (as released); Hackman gives his all, as is his custom, and James Tolkan is quite effective as a well-outfitted principal villain, but Jennifer Beals is lacklustre at best and her part easily could have been eliminated. Camerawork by Tim Suhrstedt and Michael Hanan's production design are top-flight but can do little to improve a motion picture honeycombed with nullity

Following a well worn cliché path, "Split Decisions" is far from original, nevertheless I found it entertaining. The three generations of Irish boxers seem to be in constant turmoil, but in the end stand together nicely. Gene Hackman is not the star here, even with top billing. It is Craig Sheffer and Jeff Fahey, as Hackman's sons, who carry the film. Jennifer Beals really has nothing to do, and is totally wasted. Character development is good, and the truncated boxing scenes are exciting............................. If you are willing to accept this revenge in the ring film for what it is, it is very watchable. - MERK

Spilt Decisions seemed to have had an outstanding cast which should have made this a really good, if not great movie. However, Split Decision turned out to be a dismal failure. The script was ripe with overly stereotyping. The plot line was unbelievable. The acting was over the top and lacked any real emotion or reality. The beautiful, talented, and sexy Jennifer Beals was completely wasted in this mess, as was the legendary Gene Hackman. It seemed that everyone was just going through the motions. I don't know if this movie was a hit at the box-office, but I honestly can't believe it was. If you're a Hackman fan, go rent Bonnie and Clyde, The French Connection, or I Never Sang For My Father, to see Hackman's true acting worth. If you love a great boxing flick, you're better off renting Fat City, The Champion (Kirk Douglas), ROCKY, or Body and Soul (John Garfield), and pass on this major failure of a film.

It's hard to believe they actually made this film. What were they thinking? Better yet, what were Gene Hackman, Jeff Fahey, and Jennifer Beals thinking? They do a decent job in the acting area but the plot is so stale it looks like a fight film from the 40s. And the fight scenes are so staged it looks an amateur film. I mean, after "Rocky" we are all used to some pretty good fight scenes where it looks like the guy is actually being hit.

If you like fight films there are two good Rocky films, especially the first which I thought was excellent. As they continued to make them they ultimately devalued the original, but at the time I thought it was brilliant. Now that it is a cliché it's hard to remember how powerful the original was. In addition to Rocky I liked "The Fighter" (2010), "Warrior" (2011), "Fight Club" (1999), "Raging Bull" (1980), "Cinderella Man" (2005), "Champion" (1949), and "The Set-up" (1949). Of course I've left out the Kung Fu genre.

On February 18th of 2025, the mighty actor Gene Hackman passed away. I have a tradition to pay tribute to a deceased cinema deity by watching/reviewing one or two of their lesser known (but hopefully worthwhile) movies. For Gene Hackman, however, I want to expand the tribute. He was such an indescribably brilliant and versatile actor. Since he's listed in my top 5 of greatest performers of ALL times, he deserves a full month of homage. Rest in peace, Mr. Hackman, and thanks for the many great movies.

Speaking of lesser known, this might be Hackman's most obscure effort. Together with one or two other titles on his resume, it was the only title I never heard of before. Understandably so, because "Split Decisions" is a mundane and unremarkable sports drama/thriller, and Gene Hackman is obviously TOO good in comparison with the script, the production values, and the rest of the cast. He stars as the old-fashioned and stubborn Irish coach in New York, and father of two multi-talented boxers. He has a difficult relationship with the oldest, Ray, because he chose for professional boxing and does fights for dubious promotors. He focuses on his youngest son Eddie instead, because he combines boxing with studying and aims to partake in the Olympics. When Ray is put under pressure to lose a prestigious fight, he refuses and gets murdered. Eddie wants to take over the fight against the notorious Latino boxer Pedroza, but then he needs his father's coaching help.

"Split Decisions" is hopelessly clichéd, predictable, ineffectively sentimental, and quite frankly rather boring. Everything looks cheap and rushed, especially the editing and the available filming locations, and there isn't a single story "twist" you can't predict. There are several known names in the cast (Jennifer Beals, Craig Sheffer, James Tolkan, Jeff Fahay, ...) but they all stand in the shadow of Gene Hackman (and he's not even giving his best).