Jawbone

If you're expecting Rocky, toss those expectations in the bin. This is a film that has bathed itself in the grittiness often found in British cinema, then dressed in a suit of P10 sandpaper.

Although the plot is hardly a revalation, it is beautifully written and directed. Despite having big names like McShane and Winston, it is Johnny Harris who knocks it out of the park with an engaging and real performance.

Not for those after an easy watch, or balls to the wall action.

Imagine if you can that Mike Leigh or Ken Loach decided to do a boxing film then Jawbone wouldn't be too far away from they would come up with and that is by no means a criticism in fact I really liked this. This is the story of a former youth boxing champion Jimmy McCabe who, after hitting rock bottom, returns to his childhood boxing club and his old team, gym owner Bill and corner man Eddie but to make ends meet he agree to take an unlicensed fight against someone much bigger and younger than himself. This film is not so much about boxing but about the struggle against alcoholism. Johnny Harris is brilliant and the troubled fighter and genuinely looks like he can box. There isn't a bad performance in this film. Ray Winstone and Ian McShane do what they do best and Michael Smiley is great also. If I has to pick a hole in this film and believe me it's hard . its that the person they got to be Jimmy's opponent didn't look like he knew how to box despite being ripped. Overall though a very good film.

Take everything you thought you knew about boxing movies ... and forget it.

Instead of a movie about someone looking to break into the sport, here is a movie about someone looking to break into Life, having wasted most of theirs. And boxing is all he knows.

It is a testament to the skill of the writer and director that, by the time the big fight arrives, you the audience don't have a clue how it will turn out. That by itself is an accomplishment.

Speaking of accomplishments, Harris hands us one of the most amazing performances I have ever seen. To re-use a tired cliché, he literally delivers most of his dialog in this film with his eyes.

And Winstone may possibly have delivered one of the most subtle and nuanced performances of his career, and makes max use of every second of screen time.

You could possibly say it is a modern update of Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962). Or you could simply call it what it is -- an extraordinary movie.

Recommended? Hell, yes.

((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

Based on the lead actor's own life experiences a told to death boxing story is made with heart. The power-packed performance from all around the cast is the driving force of the film. This dark and gritty British drama has a final boxing match that has to be one of the most authentic representations of that sports in a film. Even though the story is predictable the film was able to keep me involved but still, there's nothing new in here either.

Most of the modern fight movies depicting boxing are absolute garbage. I did like The Fighter with Christian Bale but that's the only one I can think of...until Jawbone.

Jawbone is a story of alcoholism, isolation, and a man just trying to get by with nothing. It reminds me a little bit of The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke which was also a very solid film.

There's a lot of clichés in Jawbone but that doesn't mean it's a bad movie. I remember watching an interview with Tarantino in which he said the stories of Pulp Fiction are all 'ones you've seen before but told in a different way' and that makes it special. It's the delivery of the story that makes a movie special even if it lacks originality in its themes.

This is a very solid movie and I enjoyed it very much. Sadly, it'll never get the recognition it deserves because the movie industry is oversaturated with very poorly made fight movies aimed at knuckle heads. Young men want to watch Fast And Furious type trash, or some story about a badass MMA fighter, and this is probably the demographic who will stumble across Jawbone and dislike it because it's not what they were expecting. This is a movie with a story and soul it's not about kicking ass, cars, and half naked women.

In any case, I'd just like to say well done to everyone involved in making the movies - I'm not easily pleased but you've achieved that with this movie.