A Fighting Man

Not bad but not remarkable Canadian boxing film either. Anyway, it is better than I expected for a film with Blade Trinity villain Dominic Purcell in the leading role and one of the writers of 1996 Z-movie Electra, Damian Lee, as both the writer and the director. Famke Jansen has a small role, which seems that was included only to have her in the casting, as the relation between her character and Purcell's is poorly developped (the mystery is unveiled in the end without the necessary emotion). Other established actors were also casted, in other underdevelopped characters. Alternating parts of the fight with flashbacks is a good narrative idea, but Damian Lee was unable to make espectator feels anything. Adam Beach speaking in the middle of the fight was ridiculous and nonsense.

"The best we can do is to forgive ourselves." Sailor O'Connor (Purcell) is an aging fighter with a past that won't let him go. He is trying to move on when he is approached by a local promoter for one last fight. After agreeing for the biggest payday he's ever had he tells his mother and old trainer, neither of whom is happy about it. His opponent is an up and coming young kid with a past he is also trying to change. Together they fight not only each other but the past they can't forget. As many of you know I am a huge fan of sports movies. Being a lower budget one that not many people have heard of I wasn't expecting too much from this. I'm not sure if that had any effect on my feelings toward this but I really really enjoyed it. Every other boxing movie I have seen tells the story of the characters then ends with the fight. This one switches between the fighting and the story which I really enjoyed. You see some punches then part of the fighters life which segues beautifully into the break in between rounds. That gives extra meaning to the rest period. I could go on and on about this but I'll end by saying I highly recommend this. Overall, not sure if it was because I wasn't expecting something this good but I really enjoyed this. I actually liked it more then The Fighter. I give this an A-.

It's nice and refreshing to see a movie about two boxers, where you get to see both sides and might not be able to pick a favorite. Of course deciding to start with the fight and then going back in flashbacks, might either be enticing for viewers or appalling. You'll have to make your own mind up about that.

Acting-wise you get quite a lot of good people in this. James Caan, Kim Coates, Michael Ironside and Famke Janssen to name a couple. Mostly they don't share the screen together, but you still get the gravitas a movie like this needs. It's nice storytelling, with slowly revealing/uncovering its layers. Not really surprising in the end, but still a nice movie to watch

i just saw actor dominic purcell in the movie "a fighting man"! give an academy award to him, the other actors, the producer, the director, the man who wrote the script! i saw all of the "rocky" movies. every one. this is more true to life.a child sees his father brutally hit his mother. then, the father knocks him against the window of the car, and cracks it. the child vows to his mother to never get knocked down right then and there! and, "sailor", played by dominic purcell, is not knocked down, even in his last, his sixty-fourth, fight. his mother raises him herself. the father has run off, abandoning the both of them. my father did the same thing.i see myself in "sailor". this is a prizefighters movie. this is not some "pink and white idiot's" movie about what it must be to be a prizefighter. this is a movie in which the entire cast spills their guts out! purcell was born in england, but, raised in Australia. Australia is a man's world. how many innocent men and women were sent to "new south wales" as convicts years ago? the raw seething beneath the skin for past injustices done to his people comes to life in dominic purcell. bravo! to everyone involved! a masterpiece!

Great boxing drama which through a very original script and editing recreates a boxing match in which between rounds and through long flashbacks we find out the reasons why boxers are fighting in that fight.

One of the great virtues of the film is it's originality in the way that tells the story, not resembling to any other movie of the genre, being the less important of the film the boxing match and focusing more in the human drama that both fighters are going through Damian Lee, director and screenwriter of the film achieved in a outstanding way to keep you interested until the ending of the story.

The film is starring by a great Dominic Purcell who lead a cast with some established names such as James Caan , Louis Gosset JR and Famke Jamssen who also displays a very nice performance.

There is a brief a appearance of Freddie Roach that boxing fans will probably enjoy Highly recommended