The Calcium Kid (2004)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Alex De Rakoff

Writers:

Derek Boyle (screenplay)
Alex De Rakoff (screenplay)

Release Date:

30 April 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

It takes a lotta bottle to be the champ

Plot:

The film is a mockumentary comedy, in which Bloom plays young milkman Jimmy. He is an amateur boxer who by a bizarre twist of events ends up fighting the world champion in his home town. |

Plot Keywords:

Boxer | Milkman | Champion | Mockumentary | Irish

Cast

Mark Heap	...	Sebastian Gore-Brown
Michael Lerner	...	Artie Cohen
Ronni Ancona	...	Pat Connelly
Michael Peña	...	Jose Mendez
Julian Zapata	...	Jose's Entourage
Alejandro Ramirez	...	Jose's Entourage
Milton Hernandez	...	Jose's Entourage
Alberto Ramon	...	Jose's Entourage
Hector Trujillo	...	Jose's Entourage
John Correa	...	Jose's Entourage
Janier Morales Drado	...	Jose's Entourage
Wilson Cretaro da Luz Jr.	...	Jose's Entourage
Tamer Hassan	...	Pete Wright
Omid Djalili	...	Herbie Bush
John Joyce	...	Jon Wright

MPAA:

Rated R for language and brief nudity.

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Malaysia:U | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:T | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Cameo: [Jamie Gambell]when Stan is fighting with various people in the bar, the guy that he is wrestling with on the pool table is the second boom operator.

Quotes:

Jimmy: [lies in bed] Say my name... Yeah, baby, yeah. Yeah...
Sebastian Gore-Brown: [clears throat] Jimmy?
[Jimmy looks up from underneath the cover]
Sebastian Gore-Brown: Morning. We're the documentary team, we'll be filming you 24 hours a day in the run-up to the fight.
Jimmy: Of course, the fight. Who would have thought it? Jimmy Connelly fighting Jose Mendez for the championship belt.
Sebastian Gore-Brown: So, tell us, how does Jimmy Connelly start his day?
Jimmy: Umm... Well, as you probably noticed... I normally start off in the morning with a set of 50 sit-ups...

Movie Connections:

Remake of The Kid from Brooklyn (1946)

Soundtrack:

Hard Work

Great, underrated little film

I first saw 'The Calcium Kid' at the end of 2004, and have since bought the DVD. This movie is very underrated, with great performances from a mostly-unknown-outside-of-the-United-Kingom (at the time) cast. The film begins a week before a much-anticipated title fight between World Champion Jose Mendez (Michael Pena-Crash) of the United States and the undefeated British challenger Pete Wright (Tamer Hassan-The Football Factory). Wright is injured while sparring with Jimmy Connolly (Orlando Bloom), a milkman who is yet to have his first fight. Fearful of losing his chance at fame, Wright's manager Herbie Bush (Omid Djalili) replaces Wright with Connolly without telling Mendez or his take-no-prisoners manager, Artie Cohen (Michael Lerner-Barton Fink). The fight gains huge amounts of publicity due to the unusual nature of it, and the days preceding the fight send Connolly spiraling from underdog hopeful to fascist and everywhere in between.

Orlando Bloom is great in his performance as Jimmy Connolly. I think it is his best yet, in fact. As the leading man, he shows his skills at comedy, and is free from being overshadowed by the ensemble cast of Lord Of The Rings and Pirates Of The Caribbean. His reactions to the situations he finds himself in over the days before the big fight are priceless and pulled off realistically. Bloom, acting outside his normal period piece roles, proves that he can pull off many a different role.

Tamer Hassan is also great as the disgruntled Pete Wright. Despite his attempts to publicly humiliate Connolly and Bush, you really feel for his situation. Having the chance of a lifetime taken from you by a milkman is enough to set anybody off, and Hassan does the role justice in a hilarious way.

The Calcium Kid features great performances all around, such as those I've already mentioned, as well as Michael Pena, Michael Lerner and Omid Djalili. Look for supporting roles by Rafe Spall and Billie Piper as well.

Lastly, something must be said of first time writer/director Alex De Rakoff. The script is hilarious, and the mockumentary-style directing are spot-on. I only hope this is the first of many for De Rakoff.

To conclude, The Calcium Kid is one of the funniest films I've seen in a long time. Not only that, but Bloom's performance really makes you want to see his character pull off the upset of a lifetime. See this film; you will not be disappointed.