Straight Right

"Straight Right" is a perfectly awful attempt at film making. The story tells of a pro boxer whose rage, apparently from years of physical abuse as a child, can only be vented by beating the crap out of child abusers...a kind of vigilante for kids. The moral to the film is something like "what goes around, comes around" or "violence begets violence". Among the film's litany of flaws are amateurish acting, poor background music, insufficient character depth, a sophomoric story, etc. At the center of the film is the Brent Smith character who appears to have some serious boxing skills which don't really work because this is a MOVIE! Movies require acting skills! Regardless, this film's heart is in the right place and we'll wish Smith and the rest better luck next time. This is one for the dumpster...or maybe diehard fight fans like myself.

The story of Caleb (the protagonist of the movie) is the story of every decent man who reads the newspaper or watches the TV and sees all the atrocities which are happening around. But while most of us just shake our heads in frustration since there is nothing we can do about it, Caleb is different.

Caleb is a boxing champion, married to a beautiful wife, getting ready for the match of his life. But the real fight is on the streets, where fathers abuse their children, where the strong take on the weak. Caleb can't stand on the side and just watch those things without taking action. At night, he goes out to be the vigilante we all need. Not in a Batman style of way but in a true, human effort to try and change the world with the power of his fists.

But alas, this modern film-noir mixed with Greek tragedy becomes complicated as strong morale questions are raised.

A perfect 10 of acting, directing and production makes this movie a classic beauty which you probably haven't seen yet.

Someone PLEASE take away Brent Smith's typewriter. This tripe is the worst waste of celluloid since "Rollerball." I can NOT believe someone actually greenlit this. Smith must have some fabulous pitching skills (some kind of skills, anyway). The acting, pacing and DEAR GOD the music just grate. The accents are atrocious, and the constant use of the phrase, "Whatever it takes" is a pitiful attempt at a movie poster blurb. I'm embarrassed for Sundance that they would show this, and want that hour and a half of my life back!

This movie was great. I was expecting something totally different, but after the first few minutes, it had me. It felt like an old movie - like from the 30's or 40's or something, and I actually forgot that it was in color like halfway through the movie, but then realized again, later, when my girlfriend said something, that it was actually in color.

But yeah, it tripped me out. My girlfriend and I sat there talking about the movie and themes in the movie for the rest of the night after it was over. This is actually a movie that will make you consider you're beliefs and actions and responsibilities in life.

If you're wanting some hardcore, bang-em up boxing movie, this isn't it. I mean, the boxing scenes were kick-ass, but it's a pretty slow paced movie. The acting was phenomenal as well. I really like that lawyer, and Caleb, the boxer, was awesome, and that chick, his wife was hot as hell. I felt so let down when he threw the shirt over the camera in that one scene - that was pretty cool by the way.

Anyway, this movie is fantastic! Congratulations to Caleb and everyone else. You were doing the right thing by the way, man! Those kids needed you - I wish I could have been there for you, man!

I have to agree with the other post. This is a truly awful movie. Where did they get that girlfriend? The guy who played the lead is a nice looking man who spars in a realistic way, but he couldn't act his way out of a paper bag if you gave him a torch. Sundance actually had the man who wrote this in an interview discussing his "craft." Don't get me wrong. Anyone who can scrape the money together and get a film made deserves some credit for determination, but this poorly written-terribly acted mess should not be put in a place where anyone might possibly mistake it for independent film making.