Director: Paddy Considine
Talent: Paddy Considine, Jodie Whittaker
Released: 30 March
Ageing World Champion boxer Matty Burton needs to prove he’s ‘legit’ by fighting one more champion bout to retain his title belt. He’s all unassuming and his opponent is a conceited little twit, so we’re supposed to like him in his quest.
But it turns out all this boxing is not at all good for the noggin. So, despite winning the match, Matty’s now left with a brain injury rendering him dependent and childlike. This is extra sad as he’s got a little baby. His stoical wife (an impressive Whitaker) does all she can to stand by her beloved, once heroic husband.
Now, I’m not suggesting Considine’s made a vanity project here, but with him at the helm, he certainly does draw an emotionally raw performance from his lead actor Paddy Considine. Some critics have already commended his unglamorous portrayal as being free of vanity, but I’m not sure that you can attribute such scenery chewing to a lack of vanity. Maybe he could have put a bit more time into his direction, fleshing out some of the other characters.
This film doesn’t even have the decency to be bad; it keeps to mediocre, like a boxer trying to scrape by on points. We get the obligatory montage, but it’s more rehabilitation montage, all sad and northern, set to life-insurance-advert music. Many scenes are so dopey that right away your mind skips to their conclusion.
That’s not to say the film is always predictable. We get unpleasant tonal lurches, such as the scene when Matty, fed up with his own crapness when it comes to making tea, lashes out violently. These scenes are grimly effective, like any random assault that occurs from out of nowhere.
Words – Rory Kiberd
