Bruised

Halle Berry's directorial debut. The actress and director are the best part of the whole movie. Because the problem is not the director, but rather the script. Many ambiguities, numerous clichés of the lower class and many scenes are simply a copy of numerous martial arts films. The film is too predictable due to its clichés and therefore not a good debut. A shining Halle Berry but a tired film.

Halle delivers with her directorial debut! She put a lot of hard work in this film, and it's worth a watch. "We" have to go high when "they" go low! It's as if the haters can't wait to post their negative comments! This movie is certainly not a 1/10, but they never get tired of themselves.

Halle Berry is great in this and her and the kid are the stars of the film.as a pure drama its half decent.

For an mma focused film with someone who was meant to have fought for a ufc title she can't throw a kick and has the takedowns of someone who's never had a fight.

Valentina looks great fighting but it's a poorly choreographerd fight.

The most amazing thing about Bruised is the physical fitness of Halle Berry. And it is even more amazing when you realize that she's playing a person almost half her age.

The flip side is that the movie focuses on blood, sweat and tears the main protagonist is investing to fulfill her dream. This would be fine if Bruised was imagined as a female MMA version of Rocky. But it wasn't.

In fact, the gallery of picturesque side characters remains largely unexplored. And what is merely hinted at seemed to be interesting enough to considerable enrich the movie.

In terms of IMDb stars, Bruised is in the upper half of the range.

The real fight is among the pros. The Hollywood pros. While indies come and go, Oscar-Winner and A-Lister Berry made the unforgivable error of not only directing, but also casting herself, and even choosing a non-traditional topic. For a woman, that is. Which is why most of the trade reviews talk more about her choices than the film itself. Which is a shame because the film is competent, professional, holds the attention, and has first-rate acting. Last time I looked, that is what films were supposed to be about? ((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))