If I had seen this film 10 years ago, I would probably have been quite happy about it. Ambitious young actor with a very method approach, very intense, taking on a physical role, working out for the role of a boxer who is not necessarily a nice guy, but who experiences things that make us feel sympathy. The remedy is to keep fighting, but how hard is that when your life is in tatters. But still, you can make it…
Thing is that I start disliking Jake Gylenhaal, it’s the Christian Bale phenomenon: he is just trying too hard to show that he is a terribly serious actor capable of doing just about anything. Relax, man! Forest Whitaker is actually better than his recent self, he only has a few moments of being awfully brooding. And the story… how often do they think we need to see this? Is there no copyright on boxer falls down and gets up again story lines? Honestly, just the last two years alone brought 6 of those films, right? Why not just screen Rocky 1 to 7 again in a loop, this should be much cheaper, and you would have all qualities summarized in one franchise. And the likes of Gylenhaal would not need to go to the trouble of working out and losing weight and / or gaining muscle so much.
thomas4cinema 