Cardboard Boxer

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Cardboard Boxer" (2016) kinda reminded me a bit of "Time Out of Mind" (2014) - similar themes and surroundings. "Cardboard Boxer" is not bad at all character study movie (a bit), but "Time" was better in this category, but it wasn't such emotional as "Boxer".

Although no awards will shine for acting in this movie, i liked the performances by Thomas Haden Church, Terrence Howard and Boyd Holbrook as Pinky - he could have stayed on screen longer. Directing was nice as well as script. This is well paced movie - at running time 1 h 25 min it doesn't drag.

Overall, "Cardboard Boxer" is a nice little movie which will unfortunately i'm afraid be overlooked by many. Although it doesn't have anything original or very well made, is not a bad movie overall for seeing it once.

Thomas Hayden Church plays Willie, a homeless man with a little missing in the head. Based on the title of the movie, the film was about Willie getting paid by some rich kids to fight other homeless people for their entertainment. The other star on the poster, Terrance Howard plays a man who was able to get himself off the streets and comes back to help those he left behind, trying to seek out these rich kids and stop them from exploiting the homeless.

The richness of the film comes from Church trying to keep his mind straight, and doing this after coming across the diary of a young burn victim writing about the experience. He finds comfort writing letter to her inside the diary.

Overall the film does a great job of making you look differently at the homeless. It get inside the mind of a man living on the streets, and it does not try to figure him out, just make him human.

However, the movie does clean up far too well, and somehow this takes away from completely getting under your skin about the situation.

It's a well driven vehicle for Church, especially with Howard riding shotgun, but it does not have the emotion needed for people to go out and see it.

First of all.... don't be fooled by the word Boxer. I generally get thrown off by movies about boxers as I feel this gerne his been swallowed, digested and eventually ended up in the sewer through a process we all privately enjoy. Anyways, I think this film portrays the fear of every human: Loose everything, become homeless and adapt to the street life. I could not imagine, can you? Where do you go? What do you do? What does one do for entertainment? What does one do for money? This film, I think, provides a great glimpse into the life of a homeless man and reveals hardship, friendship and the ups and downs one may or may not encounter.

His love for his new found treasure, his thoughts, his emotions, his actions are captivating and intriguing. This movie will make you think, will make you appreciate, will touch your soul (I am a cold person and not easily touched or moved).

Enjoy this movie over candle light, with your better half. Men have a chance to appear empathetic and sympathetic, while still getting a bit of violence in. Win win.

Superb movie which will be greatly underestimated. Enjoy!

I don't really care about any body else's review . I'm an Er doc and I've seen homeless people for most of my life and career.He did a great job showing there desperation and how they have been abandoned.These people are human beings not to be manipulated and deserve the same respect as everyone else.It's not a popular fad to help someone in need .It's a need we should inherently have to help our own species.What else have we become ?Not driven by media but by emotion . Not by government and programs but by the the individual who gives that person a hug ( the burnt child that gives Mr Church in the final scene) .Thank you ,if you ever read this Mr Church.

This is the best feel good movie in years. If you have a heart, it will leave you breathless at times, emotionally exhausted, having laughed and cried, and then feeling so good! It is right on with the feelings one has in being homeless, as I too could not get out of my homeless circumstances, though I tried different cities and states, until in Florida, in utter hopelessness and desperation from years of this I begged a police officer in West Palm Beach to arrest me, but instead he took me to his home, became my biggest hero, and got me out of homelessness. But more importantly, buy this movie, don't rent it! It is a rare gem, and the best medicine for anyone who needs to feel good, and a move such as this one will heal the broken heart.