Movies: Fighting

It's like getting sucker-punched with a happy face.
By Jordan Burchette
Premiere.com

The Pitch:

What was supposed to be an abysmal movie about the ascension of a street-level counterfeiter (Channing Tatum) to the darling of New York’s underground fight scene was hijacked (probably somewhere between the pre-production and editing processes) by someone who was earnest, conscientious and funny. Naturally, the studio’s advertising department didn’t get the memo.

High Points:

In a plot-long paean to 1970s New York cinema, much of the film, from its soundtrack to its dialogue, has a streetwise sincerity that belies its marketing. The script is surprisingly fresh and often funny, and the fight scenes increase in mostly bloodless, rating-straining intensity. Tatum, along with the movie’s role players, serves honorably as a well-meaning meathead who’s as likely to say something disarming as he is to punchify someone’s face.

Low Points:

Clichés abound, and the premise is almost irresolvably over-simplified, forgiven only for the movie's other charms. Also, opportunities to more thoughtfully address the film’s social themes appear to be willfully ignored in favor of one-dimensional amusement. But when the flick’s pre-promotion has you expecting the underground-fighting equivalent of Glitter, you’re happy to get a dimension at all.

Final Thoughts:

Spotting influences, like Superfly, The Warriors and the original Shaft, is a worthy side game for the initiated. It’s hardly high-minded, but for those with a heart on for the aforementioned, Fighting is a fun, frank and faithful homage to simple inner-city drama.