Punch

Punch is a risky Canadian drama that explores an emotionally incestuous relationship between a father and daughter. It also introduces us to the world of Topless Female Boxers, but more about that later.

Newcomer Sonya Bennett is the teenaged Ariel, a rebellious young girl being raised by her single parent father (Michael Riley). When he brings home a woman he is dating Ariel feels betrayed and punches the woman in the face, giving her a black eye. Enter the aforementioned Topless Female Boxer (Meredith McGeachie). She is the tough, lesbian sister of the wronged women, and comes to extract an apology from Ariel and her father.

It all sounds very `Jerry Springer,' and to a degree it is - the topless boxing angle is pure titillation - but there is some substance here. Director and screenwriter Guy Bennett introduces many interesting human drama elements to Ariel's coming-of-age story, but frustratingly fails to fully explore any of them. He hints at things that are daring and unusual, but then backs away from the difficult material. At its core Punch delves into the pain of finding the right emotional distance between yourself and those whom you love, but the message is muddied by too many plot twists. The topless boxing is very, uh. visual and will probably put some bums in the seats but unnecessarily clogs up the story.

Sonya Bennett sizzles as the audacious daughter, while Riley subtly conveys the turmoil the father feels as a respectable man who realizes that his relationship with his daughter is tainted.

This is Guy Bennett's first film and there are enough indications in this movie of someone who really knows how to direct actors and is willing to take interesting risks as a screenwriter to make lead one to think that while Punch isn't quite there, it'll be interesting to see what this guy will do next.

I really enjoyed this movie. The characters draw you in. I was intrigued from the beginning. The characters are very well written. I was surprised by the complexity of the female characters. Women can be very hard to understand. I loved how complex the female characters were. Especially because they are so rare to see. The daughter is very well written. Julie the Beauty could benefit from more character development. Extremely well acted. KUDOS to all involved. I would have sworn this was written by a female. Excellent. I liked all the female characters and felt the tortured existence of the male "dad" lead. Great flick. Even my non film-minded Pakistani husband enjoyed it.

My comment to my wife when we were watching this was: "This looks like a Hal Hartley movie, but everyone is a lot meaner than they usually are in his films."

Punch is an interesting exploration of issues surrounding codependent family relationships, honor, and the exciting word of topless women's boxing.

Early in the film, I found almost all of the characters to be somewhat excessive in their violence, stunted emotions and knee-jerk reactions to the world around them. More depth was revealed toward the end, but in a somewhat heavy-handed way. Despite this, I think Punch offers something a little different than the usual fare, at least for viewers in the U.S. (It is possible that Canadians may be used to slightly more contemplative works.) If you don't mind watching your characters develop all of the way through the film (some of the exposition takes quite a while), or are willing to pass the intervening time watching topless women's boxing, you might find it worthwhile.

First of all then, my proper mark out of 10 here should be 6.5. I think that a 7 would be too generous for a film which, in the main, is very good indeed. I am not plot spoiling here by saying that the film contains unnecessary female topless boxing. In all honesty, the director could have chosen something completely different to link his characters. But then I believe that he has openly admitted that the audience can make their own mind up as to if the boxing is just in there to titillate the majority of the male contingent of those watching. This, in itself, is basically admitting that that is just the reason why it's there. However, if I were a female spectator, I would feel somewhat uncomfortable. This is unfortunate really because, in the main, the bulk of the story is more one that would appeal to the female movie watcher. I think that what I am trying to say here is that I have marked the film down purely because of the inclusion of the boxing.

It is true that the DVD box and its description are a little deceiving. This is a film far more involved in dealing with relationships. The oh so very close relationship between father and daughter, between the father and his new partner (and how the daughter copes with it), and then the relationship between the new partner and her sister. The box clearly depicts the daughter (Sonja Bennett) as a boxer....well, she isn't. Clearly unstable and ready for fight maybe.....but not a boxer.

I believe that Sonja Bennett received awards in her homeland of Canada for her acting in this movie but I really can't say that she was at all brilliant. Her maniacal display of tap dancing was more funny than anything else. However, I feel that the acting awards here should go to the father (Michael Riley). He was outstanding, and his monologue story about his first meeting with his now deceased wife was so so heart wrenching and beautifully done.

I have to admit that when I read that Sonja Bennett is, in actual fact, the daughter of the director Guy Bennett, i felt just a little uncomfortable by the fact that there are two scenes of nudity involving his daughter, one of which leaves nothing to the imagination. It therefore made me watch the scenes with the directors audio commentary to see what he had to say about them. Happily, he did say that he wasn't in the room when these scenes were shot.

So to conclude.......it is a shame to say that this very good movie could so much have been a great movie. Some viewers should not be left feeling uncomfortable about what is, in essence, a simple tale of relationships. Please give it a watch.

This film is essentially about the relationship with between a single father and his daughter. But there's a very clunky other element to it - topless female boxing. It's supposed to be a 'hook' to get people to see the film, but frankly it would be much much better left out completely since it just doesn't work alongside the father daughter relationship theme and is a long way past the wrong side of grotesque.

The conflicts and alliances that exist between the father, daughter, father's girlfriend and her sister are portayed effectively, often highlighting the success of calmly resolving an issue instead of being aggressive and violent. The film reminded me of Almodovar's work in its handling of complicated relationships in unique situations, although sometimes I felt it wasn't showing me anything I hadn't seen before (topless female boxing aside).

The acting is excellent, particularly that of Sonja Bennett and Meredith McGeachie who portray their respective characters with complexity and emotion, but without going overboard.

Overall, it's a well constructed film with a lot of issues that walk out of the cinema with you and it's probably a shame that most people won't see it.