The Philly Kid

for a UFC fighting style movie. for a meager $5 mil. production budget, this movie turned out not bad at all passed the ceiling level of a B movie. but there are still some weird directing weaknesses: 1) the badly scripted then uniform cop then detective after 10 yrs. looked more like thugs and holding grudge for 10 yrs against the man who didn't shoot his partner is such a weak plot. 2) the parole officer is also a very weird role created in this movie. 3) the liquor store never got one customer but both owner and the employee still doing shelving restocking and storage room inventory daily. how this liquor store survived? 4) michael jay white became a syndicate fixer and a thug is a stretch. 5) the time frame of being a young man then spent 10 years in prison, came out still looked the same is another stretch; out of prison at age of ??? ain't he a bit too old? 6) the underground UFC style cage fights arrangement is a bit weak; 7) a billet shot through the cheek, yet not even swollen after the stitching-up is another stretch, and the bullet wound scar just like a dimple? man, this is what? korean plastic surgery?

anyway, this is still a movie with very weak screenplay but performed by a very good tense gradually matured actor with quite believable fighting act.

I recently rented this off ITunes. I wasn't expecting much but to be entertained for 90 minutes and that's exactly what I got. The star Wes chatham as a recently paroled ex- NCAA wrestler played a believable role as someone forced to fight in the cage in order to save his longtime friend played by Devon sawa (almost unregognizable with his new veneer teeth) the fights are pretty well choreographed and are pretty realistic. To sum things up I would recommend this to fight fans or anyone looking to be entertained for 90 minutes. This is the fourth film I've seen in the after dark action films with the exception of stash house.

Wow. So much going for this production. Chatham is one of Hollywood's most under-used actors and he shines here. The fight scenes, few as they may be, are some of the best choreographed ever, even Stallone could learn from them. Production values top notch. But the script, what a mess! Instead of being content to ride the fighting arc, we have prison, bad cops, bad debts, bad friends, and an entire kitchen sink of stuff that has nothing to do with fighting. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

I think anytime you watch a movie about something in which you are knowledgeable there is an excellent chance you will be disappointed. Movies when people click on a keyboard for 2 minutes and crack the CIA firewall or alien codes! Or when Japanese import cars are red-lined but seem to continue to rev higher and go faster with nitrous. Or football movies where people are diving left and right, but never at the ball carrier.

This film is no different. The fight scenes weren't bad. Not even close to real, but better than other movies I've seen. The acting wasn't bad. The plot wasn't bad. Bearable, entertaining, but nothing exceptional.

The plot has the lead actor fighting THREE fights to pay off a debt of his loser friend. After TWO fights, against virtually unknown local fighters, an MMA organization seeks him out and offers him a contract fight. The representative of the organization says they've been tracking his career. What??? His first fight was with no training after 10 years in prison. The second a few weeks later. Thousands of fighters across the nation, and they take notice of a guy with 2 wins in as many weeks against local nobodies??? Good grief.

His third fight is against a guy twice his weight that moves like an 80-year-old. Look, it isn't the UFC, but there are still weight classes! I won't reveal any more and risk spoiling the end.

Bottom line... worth watching over regular TV... but nothing beyond average.

OK, It's not an epic, and it certainly could have some smoother edits, but as jaded as I can be after roughly 5000 movies I think that this is a very good film.

First remember the genre'. The story is well paced and shot nicely. They have resisted the urge to cut too fast, and this gives actors the chance to embrace a scene, making it believable. This is better than many big budget, big name parades that present themselves as quality but miss the mark. Fun,engaging and well acted,Wes Chatham,Devon Sawa, Sarah Butler,and Adam Mervis do a lot to develop believable and vulnerable characters within the constraints of a compact but well written script. I look forward to following their promising careers. Butler in particular is need that one big opportunity and she'll light up the screen. Sarah Butler deserves kudos for being extremely endearing quickly and adding real weight to the tension within the story. Devon Sawa, a winner.He just is. I've always been Neal McDonough fan and he has the talent and charisma that makes the viewer hope for more screen time.

A very good movie. AND I am a very jaded reviewer.