Punch

It's easy to over-look the real issues in the film Punch when it contains such outrageous plot element as female topless boxing, but that would be a mistake. The film is more about the relationship between father and daughter, about dealing with loss, anger, and reclaiming one's emotional self.

The script is well-written and the performances are real. There is a real risk of it turning into melodrama but director Guy Bennett does a good job preventing that by keeping the characters and situations real.

The film deals with many complex issues but does not ruin it by trying to provide us with answers to everything but simply presents them and leaving the rest to the audience. That takes guts... as it does when one makes a film with female topless boxing and wishes to be taken seriously.

This is what the movie box says: "Ariel is a girl with more than her fair share of personal problems. When she learns to take out her frustrations in the boxing ring, she find it just might be her chance to fight for a better life." The front of the box has a pic of Ariel, played extremely well by Sonja Bennet, with a tank top and her hands wrapped for boxing-a little spatter of blood-standing in a boxing pose. Now, the problem with that is that never once in the movie did she learn to box. And never once in the movie did she get inside a boxing ring!

Now, if you just ignore those facts, this film is a great movie. It was well directed-Guy Bennett's first film. Michael Riley plays Ariel's father and he was quite impressive. What this film is really about is a young girl, who's trauma from her mother's death has made her a mean antisocial type, who's possessive of her father. There is a very obvious sexual tension between her and her father as a result of her taking on the housewife role of her mother, and this is really the the base of the story. After assaulting his new girlfriend, she's forced to grow up and take responsibility for her life and her actions by the victim's sister- an undefeated topless boxer. That part, as others here have said, was just for titillation. She learns to grow, to let go, and to experience life through the consequences of her actions. This is a great movie, well acted and directed. Well told. There are a handful of short, well done fight scenes-especially the one at the climax. I don't want to say to much her and give anything away. Pick it up for a good conversation piece, not date-night with the town tough girl. Just ignore the stuff on the back of the box.

perhaps not at it's finest, but this is what having a film industry based on government grants and corporate sponsorship will get you. This is not a movie for the masses, but it is very representative of Canadian cinema, odd, uncompromising to a fault and a little too tidy. I agree with Jay Alexander review where he faults the film being too clean looking, the same subject in the hands of a Guy Ritchie or Quentin Tarantino would look much different. Looks like it was shot of digital video, but I'm not sure. At the same time this movie is unflinchingly ugly, yes it has topless boxing, but some of the women you really wish would put their shirts back on (and if you saw the film, you know who I'm talking about). However, this is something you would NEVER see in a Hollywood film, an ugly female in a positive role? fugetaboutit. You will get plenty of ugly fat men baring it all, but never women. For this I applaud the filmmakers for their boldness, although I found it very hard to watch. I also found some of the boxing scenes verging on "Rocky" territory, which hurts the presentation.

The subject matter is intriguing as well and rarely explored, that is female violence against females, but not in a cutesy "cat-fight" hair pulling way, this is all out pounding the sh*t out of each other. I remember seeing a documentary about young women these days how there is almost as many cases of female bullying and gang violence as there is male, but we don't hear about it as much. As we break down barriers between the sexes, these are some of the results.

Much of the dialogue is odd, and as one reviewer noted very "Hal Hartley" like, although with a Canadian spin. How many movies would you see a scene of a beautiful and well toned female pump starting a lawn mower yelling "I think the alternator's fucked" as father looks on? There are lots of scenes like this, and when they work, they work wonderfully, but when they don't they fall pretty flat. The acting is very good, although the males are portrayed as either wimpy or complete *ssholes. Meredith McGeachie does a convincing job as the lesbian boxing champion that nobody can beat, her boxing moves looked real and not like a female trying to pretend to fight like a man (as Sonja Bennett does). And is it me or does she look strikingly similar to Jerri from Survivor a few years back? Overall an interesting yet flawed film, and oh so Canadian, representing what many see as the horrible state of Canadian cinema, for others a viable alternative to Hollywood pablum.

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.

I loved this movie. "Punch" isn't easy to watch (especially for those of us who live with a teenage daughter of our own!), but it is worth the effort. What an interesting film.

It is well-acted across the board. The dialogue is tight, hard, funny, rude -- and then moving and lovely. (It is worth seeing twice just for Michael Riley's beautiful monologue on how he met Ariel's mother.)

Sonja Bennett is scary as the angry teen protagonist. Utterly unlikable - what a huge risk for a young actress. Bravo to her. Michael Riley is perfect as the Dad. I also loved Marcia Laskowski's performance of Mary - a highly believable, likable, attractive woman somewhere in her thirties. I enjoyed seeing a romantic lead who looked like someone I might actually meet somehwere - someone real. Vincent Gale is - as always - incredible as the complex bartender. And Katherine Kirkpatrick simply rocks as Beth the big boxer. Meredith McGeachie is also impressive as "Julie the Beauty".

It's hard to say more without giving stuff away, which I don't want to do, because I hope that lots of peole get to see this movie.