Most boxing movies follow a well-worn path dictated by the genre. Contender/former champ/troubled youth must win the Big Fight in order to redeem himself. The boxing movie has been around almost as long as movies. Rotten Tomatoes rates them: https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/best-boxing-movies-of-all-time/ including 1926’s Battling Butler, starring Buster Keaton.
My way back machine starts with 1949’s The Set Up, starring Robert Ryan as the archetypal Palooka, who has to throw a fight to appease the mob. But Ryan’s Stoker is too proud to throw the fight and the story is a cautionary tale about a sport that has been corrupt since the first bare-knuckle matches in Mesopotamia. The Set Up is also noir. It is a very good movie.
Humphrey Bogart’s The Harder They Fall was his last film. He plays sports writer Eddie Willis, suborned by mobster Rod Steiger into building up the “bull of the pampas, El Toro. “While Toro is beastly in appearance, he has no actual boxing talent, and all his fights are fixed. When Toro gets a shot at the title against the brutal Buddy Brannen (Max Baer), Willis is faced with the tough decision of whether or not to tell Toro that his entire career is a sham.” It was based on the real life Primo Carnera, and Budd Schulberg’s novel based on his story. In real life, Max Baer, who stars in the movie as the champ, beat Primo Carnera to retain the title. Plenty of boxing scenes, but the real focus is the transformation of Bogie’s character from cynical scrabbler to a man who just can’t take the lies anymore. It’s Willis who achieves redemption. Highly recommended.
Rocky is the archetype’s archetype. RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN ROCKY. Bueller? Bueller? We’ve all seen Rocky, the feel good story of a Philly tomato can who’s convinced he can go toe to toe with the champ. Rocky won three Oscars including Best Picture, and spawned the franchise that extends to the present in the Creed movies.
Creed features Michael Jordan as Apollo Creed’s son, whom Rocky Balboa coaches on Creed’s path to the championship. I watched Creed III last night and it was highly entertaining due in no small part to Jonathan Majoros’ portrayal of Creed’s childhood friend who went to prison, comes out, and wants his shot.
Many boxing movies, such as Tyson, deal with real personalities. The Fighter stars Mark Wahlberg as Fighting Mickey Ward. “ Despite Micky's hard work, he is losing and, when the latest fight nearly kills him, he follows his girlfriend's advice and splits from the family. Then Micky becomes a contender for the world title and he -- and his family -- earns a shot at redemption.” There’s that word again. The Fighter features Christian Bale as Micky’s trainer.
Chuck, starring Liev Schreiber, is an outlier, a boxing movie that’s not so much about boxing as it is about Chuck Wepner’s bizarre life. “But before all of that, Chuck Wepner was a liquor salesman and father with a modest prizefighting career whose life changed overnight when, in 1975, he was chosen to take on Ali in a highly publicized title match. It's the beginning of a wild ride through the exhilarating highs and humbling lows of sudden fame, but what happens when your 15 minutes in the spotlight are up?
Bleed For This stars Miles Teller as real life boxer Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, how he suffered a debilitating car crash that would have ended any normal man’s career, and how he came back to win the championship from the formidable Roberto Duran. Aaron Eckhart is outstanding as Kevin Rooney.
There are several movies about Nazis forcing concentration camp inmates to box. Triumph of the Spirit, starring Willem Dafoe, is among the best. Dafoe plays Salamo Arouch, a young Jewish boxer who fights for the rations that will keep his father alive.
The Survivor is another concentration camp boxing movie starring Ben Foster as Harry Haft. “Aside from the singularity of the story it tells, the movie has two things going for it: Ben Foster in the lead and a knowledge of how guilt and trauma can fuse a person into a black hole of self-loathing.”
Million Dollar Baby. A triumph. “When Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) arrives in Frankie's gym seeking his expertise, he is reluctant to train the young woman, a transplant from working-class Missouri. Eventually, he relents, and the two form a close bond that will irrevocably change them both.” Clint Eastwood hit his directorial peak with this one, along with Unforgiven, Richard Jewell, and Gran Torino.
Antoine Fuqua’s Southpaw, starring Jake Gyllenhaal as the junior middleweight champ, packs a profound emotional punch. When tragedy strikes, Gyllenhaal’s Billy Hope loses everything. Wife, daughter, home. He begins the long road to redemption with a new trainer, played by Forest Whittaker, who also plays George Foreman’s trainer in Big George Foreman. Billy’s long road back is engrossing and believable.
Big George Foreman follows the pattern, only in Big George’s case, it’s all true. Foreman was a thug who completely turned his life around. Since this involved his embrace of Christianity, the precious cupcakes at Rotten Tomatoes gave it a low score. The audience gives it a high score. Anybody who uses Rotten Tomatoes is familiar with this phenomenon. Rotten Tomatoes gave Sound of Freedom 59% approval, reinforcing the perception that Hollywood and its sycophants embrace groomers. The audience gave it 99%.
There are also movies about boxing kangaroos and robots, but that’s enough for now.
Truly inspirational movies!
You shouldn't have left out the one about boxing robots, that was a great story.