Fighting Tommy Riley (2005)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Eddie O'Flaherty

Writer:

J.P. Davis (writer)

Release Date:

2006 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama | Sport

Plot:

An aging trainer and a young fighter, both in need of a second chance, team-up to overcome the demons of their past...and chase the dreams of their future.

Plot Keywords:

Boxing | School Teacher | Boxing Trainer | Boxing Gloves | Undressing

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Eddie Jones	...	Marty Goldberg
J.P. Davis	...	Tommy Riley
Christina Chambers	...	Stephanie
Diane Tayler	...	Diane Stone
Scot Belsky	...	Mr. Riley
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michael Bentt	...	Mosley
Paul Terrell Clayton	...	Oscar
Adam Harlan	...	Bob Silver's Assistant
Paul Raci	...	Bob Silver
Don Wallace	...	Leroy Kane
Erica Zodtner	...	Laurie

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some sexual content.

Runtime:

USA:109 min | Argentina:109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Argentina:16 | USA:Not Rated | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles County, California, USA

Company:

Visualeyes Productions

Movie Connections:

Referenced in T.K.O. (2007)

Superlative Drama

Fighting Tommy Riley is simply one of the best Indie films I've seen. It had me glued to the screen within ten minutes. J.P. Davis is a multi-talented man. In addition to playing the title character, he wrote the screenplay and produced the movie as well. And he can act! On the surface he looks like an underwear model, like so many up and coming 20's actors, but this guy has a complete emotional vocabulary. Mainstream Hollywood should be at his doorstep. He completely inhabits Tommy Riley in a way that very few actors with the right "look" could ever hope to achieve. Casting veteran actor Eddie Jones was a coup. Jones meets Davis's intensity on every level and the two of them create a complicated and wonderful rapport. Jones, in fact, is heart breaking; a character that so often slumps into empty sentimentality is rendered with honest reality.

The film is directed superbly. The story is told clearly and directly. The gay subtext of trainer lusting after fighter is handled frankly, sincerely and with a bittersweet truth. It exposes a sad case in our society, straight or gay, that older people are denied physical love at every level.

This is a far more engrossing film than Hollywood hype favorites Cinderella Man and Million Dollar Baby. Director O'Flaherty has more talent in his pinkie than does Ron Howard and Clint Eastwood in their collective big buck bodies.