A Fighting Man

Freddie Roach, the great boxing trainer, is the fight doctor.

I wasn't expecting much, but this came as a pleasant surprise! The editing uses flashbacks in between rounds to tell the motivations that drive the two fighters, revealing their personal dramas little by little.

This helps to keep you interested on the movie, and ultimately on the outcome of the fight.

It also works because there's no 'villain' on the ring - both characters have good reasons to be on this match, and it's difficult to root just for one of them (though for me Dominic Purcell has a slight edge, if anything for being older).

The movie is all about human life and their stories. I wasn't really expecting what I watched but I really liked it.

Unlike an usual movie, it starts with the action. So, you are not really sure what the characters are... I mean, you don't really like or dislike anyone yet even though the stories is already happening. So they keep crossing characters life over and over again in a pretty interesting way.

What I really like about fighters movies is that we are all fighters in our life... we fight for our friends, our family, ourself. We need to overcome our challenges, be ready to "take a punch" from life and don't never give up. In the end, life is more about how much you can take and keep going than how hard you can punch. It is just and simple human stories... human life.

I understand why not everyone will love this movie, but I had a really good time watching it!

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.

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