Review of Punch

Punch (2002)
9/10
A delightful surprise
23 December 2004
Warning: Spoilers
NO SPOILER :-) A surprisingly solid movie. Do not watch this if you want a Hollywood film that ties up all the loose ends and is cookie-cutter and two-dimensional. The writing here is complex, real, sensible, but not 'perfect'. I could easily imagine these people living next door. It also does not fall into the trap of becoming too complex to follow, or too full of emotional overtones to be believable.

As for the 'topless female boxing as titillation' complaint, well, that is bunk. The situation is just another example of a character who is trying to find her solutions imperfectly in an imperfect world. She too grows throughout the movie, and this has effects on her chosen career. As the boxer says in defense of her career to a baseless charge: "This is how we make our living". Going into the ring is just going to work - sure she has her personal reasons for choosing her career, but who does not? Sonja Bennett is very solid, as is the rest of the cast. Others say more about this, so I will desist.

Rent it and watch it with a loved one. It may provoke some surprising conversations! Lance
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