Blonde Fist

I came across this on Netflix and thought I'd give it a go as the clip was amusing and featured a very very young Stephen Graham. The star is undoubtedly Margi Clarke who deserved to be much more of a star than she ever did. She was approaching 40 in this and was still incredibly beautiful. But looks aside she was a damn good actor too who unfortunately never really broke out of tv shows set in her roots of northern England. The film definitely loses much of its appeal once the story shifts to New York in the second half but don't let that put you off it's still worth the time.

A British drama; A working-class Liverpudlian who is prone to using her fists to settle disputes travels to New York to find her estranged father. Needing cash to rebuild her life she joins a women's boxing circuit. Lumbering drama with below par dialogue, especially the fighting talk which doesn't sink deeply and often lacks subtlety. Margi Clarke is striking, packing a mean punch as a scrappy and devoted mother. But there is very little to engage with due to a story that doesn't grip and some of the other performances are weak. The fight sequences are choreographed well but they are not impressive enough to wait around for.

This is one of my favourite films of all times. I've watched it dozens of times. The plot of the film is probably less important than the brilliant one-liners and cameos, although maybe you have to be British to understand the subtle but incandescently funny subtexts that run through the whole film.

Margi is an excellent actress although I guess her in depth experience of the Liverpool psyche means she was playing a role that was kind of like just being herself a lot of the time maybe?

You have to realise that not all the lines are meant literally. Like in the fight scene at the beginning of the programme (has me in stitches every time I watch it). The wonderful Margi Clarke gets fisty cuffs with the superb actress Tina Malone. Tina warns Margi "Now GIT... Before I throw a bucket of p&*^ss water over ya". This is a classically hilarious line. Please don't construe from this that all people in Northern England keep a bucket of urine water handy, ready to throw over aggressive strangers.

:)

A

This is probably the worst film of all time. Margi Clarke not to be outdone is also the worst actress of all time, so quite a good fit. Honestly it is terrible.

A thinly plotted movie with comic moments that mostly don't work, and fight scenes that fail to convince ( except the last one). Margi Clarke is fine in the lead, Ken Hutchinson good too but Carroll Baker pretty much steals every scene she's in, she's deserving of a better film.