Anyone who knows me knows that I can’t resist a good fight. Tyson, Ali, Fight Club – doesn’t matter. The latter film even had a cool rule: “The first rule about Fight Club is that you don’t talk about Fight Club.” But in Fighting, it seems that you talk only to fill the gaps between all the fighting.
Starring Channing Tatum, Terrence Howard [click here to read] and Zulay Henao are put together through circumstance and fate with Tatum as a bruiser rising to stardom in New York City’s underground fighting circuit. Although Channing Tatum has the proper presence in this Rocky-esque flick, the rest of the cast are coincidentally glass jawed during the many moments when someone’s fist isn’t connecting with someone else’s jaw.
Shot in Queens, director Dito Montiel and co-writer Robert Munic expand on their intimate knowledge of New York City mixing seedy and swank locales with the always captivating backdrop for the fights. Down-and-out Tatum meets Terrence Howard’s character to form a Tyson/Cus D’Amato relationship with a beautiful love interest to boot.
The bad part of this is that Fighting defeats itself by crafting the story too quickly. In a matter of moments Tatum goes from zero to hero with Howard tugging on the purse strings and Zulay going straight for the knockout. The script is bogged down by dialogue and with the premise of “fighting” being the main draw, it is the fisticuffs that star here. Brian White does a good job of being Tatum’s foe – an old wrestling buddy turned mixed-martial arts star – the two share a history where the ending may just surprise you.
I’d go to see this if you weren’t trying to go see Obsessed [click here to read].
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