Boxing movies are a Hollywood mainstay. They can include underdog hits such as Rocky or they might be classified as redemptive character studies a la Raging Bull.
In my view, the best boxing movies sweat with seedy atmosphere, exposing the boxing world as one full of traps. Fighters often become victims of their egos, scrappers making last-ditch attempts to preserve what's left of their self-respect. (Body and Soul, 1947).
Don't take the above as anything more than an outline of my preferences re: boxing movies, but know that The Cut tends toward the latter category. Although far from a classic, the movie gives Orlando Bloom an opportunity for a deep immersion performance that pushes him past his work in movies such as Lord of the Rings or Pirates of the Caribbean.
Aided by a hefty make-up job, Bloom sheds the trappings of big-screen fantasy, playing an Irish pug who blew his chance for ring glory, perhaps because he couldn't muster the will to win. Bloom's emotionally damaged character wants to challenge fate, reclaiming his shot at a life-changing moment he failed to meet.
When we meet The Boxer (that's how he's listed in the credits), he's working at a gym with the woman who once trained him (Caitriona Balfe). They teach kids to box and live modestly until a slick promoter (Gary Beadle) offers The Boxer a chance to substitute for a fighter in a Vegas match. He's flown to the US and begins his short-notice preparation for the bout.
For most of the movie, The Boxer battles his own body. He arrives in Vegas weighing more than 180 pounds. To compete as a lightweight, he must hit 154 pounds. He has a week to make weight, to make himself lean.
Enter Boz (John Turturro), a maniacal specialist in helping fighters shed pounds. Boz's arrival sets up a conflict between the unethical Boz and Caitlin, whose love for The Boxer means she'd rather not see him endanger his life with insane workouts, rigorous dieting, sweat sessions, drugs, and other forms of bodily torment.
Bloom tries to wring every ounce of determination, doubt, and persistence from a role that's probably his grittiest to date.
Grabs for atmospheric authenticity only carry the movie so far, and the narrative is disrupted by quick flashbacks to the boxer's childhood relationship with his prostitute mother.
Director Sean Ellis avoids showing us the climactic battle for which The Boxer has been preparing. Ellis may have wanted to keep his movie from being decked by genre cliches. Instead, he relies on a disturbing bit of weight reduction that underscores The Boxer's already established mania.
The Cut carefully details The Boxer's bodily tortures, but scenes of his punishing physical regimen also tend to wear the movie out, like a boxer with a limited repertoire of punches. Considering all the food deprivation The Boxer experiences, the whole thing could have been called "Starving Bull."
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