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.

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Taglines:

Prove them wrong

---

Genres:

Drama | Sport

---

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.

---

Goofs

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

---

Quotes

Ray: You know, they say love kills you in the ring.

---

Connections

Referenced in Cougar Town: Too Much Ain't Enough (2014)

---

Soundtracks

Unstoppable
Written by Remy Smith and Richard Frierson
Performed by Remy Martin

User Reviews

Feministfightfest

Girlfight is a Lifetime movie that somehow became a feature film instead.It wasn't a big hit with film goers and it isn't hard to understand why.It is a formula film that has been done over and over again.About a rude girl who doesn't want to do things anybody's else way just her way.Her father wants her to become an responsible woman but she won't have it.He wants her to take up dance instead she takes up boxing and before you know it we have a girl proving to everyone that a girl can be as could as a boy when it comes to boxing.

Girlfight would have been decent if it showed the girl just struggling at this not so simple sport to master but producer Kayrn Kusuma makes it that our heroine becomes so good at it that she is mixing it up with trained male boxers at the gym she trains at and beats them easily!She has a fight between her boyfriend of all people and is fighting toe to toe with him as if she was Roy Jones.The film,you see,is really a feminist dream of going after the big nasty male and beating him at his own game.The film,really,has little to do about a mean girl finding self esteem,something the main character would have done in any other venture,but really about a feminist(Kusuma)playing out a fantasy on film and getting away with it.



This film seems to be the opposite of the British film Billy Elliot.In Billy Elliot a boy is pressuered by his father to become a boxer,but decides to become a dancer instead.In Girlfight a girl is pressured by her father to become a dancer ,but decides to become a boxer instead.Sadly that is how the liberal elites like it,that a boy lose a can lose a chance at manhood and become a sissy and a girl can hate being a woman and become a thug instead.The elites hate masculinity especially if men show it on screen and love it when women show it especially on screen.No wonder both of these films were liked by film critics they way were,they fit the mold.



When it comes to making films about boxing they should make films about real boxing heroes like Roy Jones and Felix Trinidad.I like Michelle Rodriguez,she is a fine actress and real cute.She has the looks of a winner even if Girlfight doesn't.