Girlfight (2000)

Diana, without her father knowing it, trains as a boxer and achieves impressive success, blazing new trails for female boxers.

Director:

Karyn Kusama

Writer:

Karyn Kusama

Stars:

Michelle Rodriguez, Santiago Douglas, Jaime Tirelli

15 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michelle Rodriguez	...	Diana Guzman
Jaime Tirelli	...	Hector Soto
Paul Calderon	...	Sandro Guzman
Santiago Douglas	...	Adrian Sturges
Ray Santiago	...	Tiny Guzman
Víctor Sierra	...	Ray Cortez
Elisa Bocanegra	...	Marisol
Shannon Walker Williams	...	Veronica
Louis Guss	...	Don
Herb Lovelle	...	Cal
Thomas Barbour	...	Ira
Graciella Ortiz	...	Female Student
J.P. Linton	...	Mr. Price
Iris Little Thomas	...	Ms. Martinez
Dadi Pinero	...	Edward

Storyline

At 18, Diana has a chip on her shoulder; she's close to expulsion from high school for fighting, her mother is dead, her dad is surly, the popular girls at school set her teeth on edge, she knows men can cause pain. When she picks up her younger brother at a Brooklyn gym where he boxes to please his father, she decides she wants to train. Hector, a coach, reluctantly agrees to teach her. It's soon clear to him that Diana has talent; he pushes her. She spends time with another young fighter, Adrian, who has a girlfriend, but Diana intrigues him and stirs real feelings he tries to articulate. She, too, must accommodate her toughness and ironic detachment to her feelings for him.

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Plot Keywords:

f rated | feminist film | boxer | female boxer | title directed by female | 

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Taglines:

Prove them wrong

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Genres:

Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

6 October 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

A bunyós csaj

Filming Locations:

Jersey City, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$197,896, 1 October 2000, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,523,941, 19 November 2000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Green/Renzi, Independent Film Channel (IFC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After financing fell through shortly before the movie was set to begin shooting filmmaker John Sayles, whom director Karyn Kusama had worked for as an assistant, stepped forward and provided the funding for the entire film.

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Goofs

When Diana asks Hector if he will train her, the number and arrangement of tiles on the table changes repeatedly between shots.

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Quotes

Diana: I love you. I really do.
[punches Adrian in the face]

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Connections

Referenced in The Bourne Identity (2002)

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Soundtracks

Olympic Festival
Written by Carlos Santana, KC Porter, J.B. Eckl, and Raul Rekow
Performed by Santana

User Reviews

Not your usual sports movie

In most sports movies, you'll have the corny story of triumph and it might be not too great. But this film is different. It uses it's independent edge (it won numerous awards at the Sundance and Caanes film festivals) to not be cornball, but to a good achievement. Michelle Rodriguez definately makes an credible debut as the troubled and always angry Diana, who decides a way to get out some of her aggression is in boxing, and it works, even when she has to face her boyfriend in the (improbable to be sure) ring. Better than I thought, but the liability is that Diana is always angry (so angry that any regular girl's worst day of PMS is Diana's best day) and she does some things to her family and friends that are very questionable, method and emotion wise which almost makes her not the best girl to emmulate. Pretty good, never-the-less. B+