Fighting

(2009)

Directed by

Dito Montiel

Review by Todd Plucknett

I am the only person I know who was looking forward to Fighting. Everyone saw the trailer and thought that it looked horrible, stupid, whatever. The thing that made me think otherwise was the part of the trailer that said “A Film by Dito Montiel.” Montiel has directed one other film in his career, the sensational autobiographical indie film A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. I had been eagerly awaiting his next film, and that film turned out to be Fighting, a seemingly conventional blockbuster that actually packs quite a punch and is the most honest film of this kind that I have seen.

Fighting is about Shawn MacArthur (Channing Tatum), a poor street counterfeiter who will do anything to get some cash. One of the first scenes shows him selling fake iPods and Harry Potter books for $20 on the side of the street next to some other people selling cheap merchandise. He eventually gets into a fight with some people trying to rip him off. The cops come, and everyone scatters. Later that day, he runs into some of the people that started the fight. One of them is successful con artist Harvey Boarden (Terrence Howard). Shawn really catches his eye when he was fighting off Harvey’s gang of petty criminals on the street. Harvey has connections to an illegal underground fighting circuit, and he convinces Shawn to try it out. If he wins his first fight, there will be a $5000 reward. Desperate for cash, Shawn takes him up on the deal. Shawn wins a couple fights, and while he is raking in the money, he is eager to get back in the ring. As he becomes more successful, the stakes get higher. This story has been told several times before (I have heard of comparisons to Hard Times and Lionheart), but it has never been done with as much raw honesty and intensity as this one.

What really makes Fighting work is the actors. Channing Tatum, spouting his physique comparable to a young Marlon Brando, uses his hulky presence and sensitivity to create a hero out of Shawn. Tatum is the real deal. Ever since I first saw Saints, I have been quite a fan of his. Watching him effortlessly steal films like Stop-Loss and Battle in Seattle only heightened my enthusiasm for his talent. I can’t wait to see what he does with his character in the upcoming Public Enemies and GI Joe, which will hopefully get him the mass attention he deserves. Why are A.O. Scott and I the only ones who have recognized this? Terrence Howard is also brilliant in this film as the unstable Harvey, who really becomes somewhat of a father figure to Shawn, though neither would admit it. It is really a relationship that brings to mind the timeless connection between Joe and Ratso in Midnight Cowboy. There are also some fine supporting turns from Zulay Henao (playing Shawn’s love interest, creating somewhat of a Rocky/Adrienne bond) and Luis Guzman (playing another fellow street hustler).

Montiel really has a vivid directing style that brings out the best in everyone involved. Whenever the film could have turned to ridiculous cliché or could have just thrown in another fight to thrill the audience, he gives a stripped down scene of sensitivity for his actors to shine. He has an extreme passion for the streets and sidewalks. He truly understands what it is like to have nothing, living in a city where everyone has everything. Whenever a scene is filmed on the street or sidewalk, the film is at its most genuine. This is also the case in his previous feature. Those scenes are filled with such a furious energy, which is really a Mean Streets sort of dynamic.

Montiel has made a film that will certainly not please the casual movie-goer. It will seem very conventional and lame to people who cannot really look deeper into a film. It is a great movie stuck in the body of a bad one. Maybe that is what Montiel had to do to get the attention of wide audiences, making his major studio release debut. This style of film, including such films as Never Back Down and even dancing flicks like Step Up, has become somewhat tiring. Never has a movie of that style been done with such grittiness and realism. Every bit of Montiel’s passion is reflected in the tone and roughness of this film, even in the most absurd circumstances. The audience knows exactly where the film is going, but that is really irrelevant in the end. Shawn is not just fighting for the pay day or because he likes it, he is fighting his past and his frustrations. This film comes to us with very little aspirations, and it succeeds in just about every way it tries. It is worth seeing, but if you do see it, maybe you should watch Saints first; it may help you gain some respect for the people involved. My love for that film may have skewed my opinion of this film, or maybe it just helped me in seeing the authenticity of it. Either way, this is a worthwhile experience if you like character drama.

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