![]() Hookings, whose own father is British heavyweight boxer David ‘Bomber’ Pearce, clearly knows his way around the ring, and is convincing as the provincial scrapper who discovers, at his cost, that “London’s a big fairground.” Some of the best scenes are between Belcher and Lord Rushworth (Marton Csokas). ‘Prizefighter’ hits Prime Video on July 22. Yet be it Crowe as heavyweight champ Jim Braddock in Cinderella Man, or Winstone featuring in Jawbone, alongside Johnny Harris’ punch-drunk fighter, both have been in superior boxing movies in the past. Crowe has an infectious glint in his eye while Winstone’s gruff persona fits this sweat-stained world well. There’s even the obligatory training montage, as Winstone’s Warr yells “now fuckin’ ’it it!” as he gets his flabby prizefighter back into shape for “the fight of the century” against champion Henry Pearce (Ricky Chaplin).Īdmittedly, the star presence of Crowe and Winstone elevates Graham’s film beyond the bargain bucket. Injury and jail are followed by the cliché comeback. CREDIT: Signature Entertainmentįaster than an uppercut to the chin, Belcher’s triumphs turn to disaster, although anyone hoping for a Raging Bull-style emotional arc will be sorely disappointed. ![]() Ray Winstone takes Matt Hookings’ young boxer under his wing. Before long, Belcher is beating men for fun (as the end credits explain, he was the youngest ever boxing champion in England) and becomes the toast of high society. There, he catches the eye of Bill Warr (Ray Winstone), a seen-it-all trainer who helps refine his style in the ring. Paid a pittance, he soon finds extra coins by fighting in brutish tournaments. Ten years on, Belcher (Matt Hookings, who also scripted the film) is now a trainee blacksmith. Jack’s daughter Mary (Jodhi May) is aghast, desperate that her boy doesn’t follow her father’s debauched path. The story proper begins in Bristol in 1789, when hard-drinking, debt-ridden, womanising bare-knuckle boxer Jack Slack (Russell Crowe) tutors his grandson Jem in the not-so-noble art of bashing seven shades out of an opponent. ![]() An earnest period drama about the life and times of real-life pugilist Jem Belcher, its director Daniel Graham doesn’t shy away from scenes of men relentlessly slugging it out. There are moments – and plenty of them – when Prizefighter feels just like this. ![]() Roy Hill used for another comedy set in the Depression, The Sting (1973).Fans of the BBC’s ’90s sketch comedy The Fast Show might recall Paul Whitehouse in a one-off skit called ‘ The Long Big Punch Up‘, an action movie parody featuring two characters endlessly trading blows. To starring, and TV-hack director Michael Preece does Conway no favors withĬolorless direction that’s way too obviously patterned after the style George Much of the blame for this lifeless movie, since he co-wrote the script in addition Training montages and a weepie storyline about an orphaned kid are thrown intoĬhore to watch, no matter how innocent its intentions. Sycophant happy to let Bags do all the dirty work. Portrayed as a brainless man-child, or Shake, who is portrayed as a whiny Never quite gels, since it’s predicated on every character except the villainīeing a complete idiot, and it’s hard to care much what happens to Bags, who is One-while also tricking Pop Morgan into betting his gym on Bags’ victory. The world championship, and Mike fixes all of Bags’ fights except the last Mike arranges for Bags to re-enter the boxing ring as a contender for Wayne), the owner of a boxing gym that Mike wants to raze for development It seems Mike wants to use Bags and Shake to swindle Pop Morgan (David Through incredibly convolutedĬircumstances, these two get involved with a brutal mobster named Mike (Robin Clarke). Set in theĭepression, The Prize Fighter follows dim-witted losers Bags (Conway), a former boxer,Īnd Shake (Knotts), a former boxing manager. To enjoy, even as the picture’s reliance on lame physical-comedy shtickĮnsures the film is too stupid for sensible adults to tolerate. Twists that it’s too tedious for very young kids For instance, The Prize Fighter-a PG-rated flick, as opposed to the duo ’ s usual G-rated fare-gets mired in so many numbingly predictable plot Considerable fame separately, funnymen Tim Conway and Don Knotts made several films together, mostly in the ’70s, that became popular among children butĭidn’t curry much favor from grown-ups.
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