Glass Chin

Greetings again from the darkness. "Glory Days, well they'll pass you by" is a familiar line sung by Bruce Springsteen, and writer/director Noah Buschel brings that New Jersey sentiment to his latest film. We follow the travails of a former boxer struggling with the faded spotlight and his perceived lack of respect, while also seemingly oblivious to the maintenance his personal relationship requires.

Corey Stall (familiar to "House of Cards" fans) plays Bud "The Saint" Gordon, a retired boxer whose self-named local neighborhood hangout recently closed its doors. Bud is trying to figure out how to reclaim the good life afforded by his boxing winnings, and is opposed to his girlfriend Ellen (Marin Ireland) taking a waitress job to help out. He agrees to train a young up-and-coming boxer prepare for a fight, while also agreeing to work with a shady shyster named J.J. (Billy Crudup). Bud and J.J. have a history, and it's soon pretty clear that J.J. is some type of offbeat (he owns a snow leopard) kingpin or mobster, who finds a financial and psychological edge in all dealings.

Yul Vazquez plays J.J.'s lead henchman and has the "flashiest" (his character name is Flash) role in the film, although Crudup's character could have been even more fun if allotted more screen time. Also making brief appearances are Kelly Lynch, Katherine Waterston, and David Johansen. Of course, Mr. Johansen is a former member of The New York Dolls, and their song "Trash" plays a key role in one of Bud's earliest scenes working with Flash.

There is an unmistakable class theme – the have's vs the have-nots. The two sides are clear in Manhattan vs. New Jersey, and J.J. vs. Bud. The most interesting part of the story is with Bud's attempt to figure out the harsh ways of life, even as we viewers recognize he requires no shades for his future. Although both themes are pretty familiar in the movie world, Mr. Buschel opts to only scratch the surface on both the faded hero and the mob world. Instead, it's more of a dialogue-driven drama that questions where the line in the morality sand is drawn.

This is a pretty understated movie that I really loved, so I feel like I need to be careful with my exuberance in this review. I can imagine some folks would find it slow or underwhelming but I was rapt the whole time. At one point I realized I had literally sat up and was on the edge of the seat of my couch during a scene that was just two men sitting at a kitchen table talking. But the intensity of the dialogue combined with a masterfully slow push of the camera had me intent. I have always liked Corey Stoll so I was keen to see him in a leading role, and he was great, as expected. I've been becoming a fan of Marin Ireland as well, and she was also really good here. But my god, this is some of the best work I've seen Billy Crudup do, which I believe is saying a lot. He plays a gangster who is so slick, so polished, cunning, alluring, intense, and dangerous that he just ensnares the viewer as easily as he does Stoll's character Bud "The Saint" Gordon, drawing us in. Lastly, Yul Vazquez has been acting forever (I remember recognizing him when he did one scene on a Sopranos episode many years ago) and I never learned his name, I just knew his face. Well, I learned his name after this! He damn near stole the show. Outstanding work, but he, like everyone else in the film, was given great dialogue. Because the real star of the show here is writer/director Noah Buschel, bringing a story of choices and consequences that is shot beautifully and (to be bombastic) bravely. He is unafraid to just let the camera run, relying on pushes in instead of cuts, sometimes allowing the camera to just stay on an actor when they're no longer speaking, allowing silence and space, giving the story room to breathe. Lastly, a big shoutout to cinematographer Ryan Samul, who has done great work with films like Haunt and Cold In July and again, with Glass Chin. I spent the entire 90 minutes of the film admiring his marvelous work and was unsurprised when I looked him up to see that I had admired his work before. I'm gonna think about this movie for a while and definitely watch it again to make sure that my feelings of being blown away right now are justified but I gotta tell you, this was a hell of a first watch. It's streaming in a ton of places, check it out.

(2014) Glass Chin CRIME DRAMA

Co-Written and directed by Noah Buschel starring Corey Stoll as Bud also called "The Saint" who used to be a bi time boxer, and is now struggling to stay afloat. Once he agrees to get back on his feet again, by training another boxer, Kid Sunshine, (Malcolm Xavier), Bud then gets himself involved with an old former sleazeball acquaintance, a gangster named J. J. (Billy Crudup) with his paid goon, Roberto (Yul Vasquez).

The movie may have worked back in the hey days of film noir, that was a common theme starting from the 1940's but, as time has gone on, after many film noir films later it does not reach the same level of affect as opposed to the other movies made before it.

Menace beneath the surface. Threat of violence always there but unusual for a boxing movie happens only off-screen. Acting top rate. Loved the camerawork. In some frames we are shown everything, others nothing.

Great cast, but did I miss something?. It was strange.