Thursday, January 22

Laughing Foot.

cryingfist by you.

We've all seen at least one boxing movie right? Rocky, Ali, Raging Bull, Million Dollar Baby. And we all know what usually happens at the end. The protagonist will either come back in the final round to overcome his rival in a heroic series of blows or lose the match yet have the respect of the nation or become a quadriplegic and receive euthanasia by an old man who used to star in spaghetti westerns and is known for saying, "You've got to ask yourself a question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well do ya, punk?!" We see it all the time right? Well what do you do when there are two protagonists facing against each other in the ring? What do you do when you want to root for both fighters but can't imagine what would happen if one lost. What you do is just sit back and watch.

Crying Fist is a movie that tells the story of two characters who don't meet until the final round of the lightweight championship. One is an ex-con ex-dreadlocked dude fighting for his dead father and dying grandmother while the other is a homeless, washed up former silver medalist at the Asian Games fighting for his son and his pride. The end result is mind blowing. Well not really. But it's still a good movie. You may recognize one of the boxers to be an Oldboy. It's directed by the same guy who did City of Violence, the movie which I enjoyed and wrote about earlier. The only bad thing about this movie is that it might be trying to do to much at once. It feels like The Pursuit of Happiness meets Ali meets American History X meets Skull meets Boy Meets World meets Meatloaf. It easily could have been two different movies, but that's what makes this film different. It's not a regular boxing movie. Some fights are shot in one single take. From the friendly glove tap in the beginning of the match to the knockout at the end, you can see the actors go at it in real time. No match cuts of a punch to a guy turning his head and spitting water. But all in all. It was a time well spent. Oh yeah, and if you get really uncomfortable seeing male buttocks and ten year old penis remember to close your eyes.

No comments: