Journeyman (2017)

Boxer Matty Burton suffers a serious head injury during a fight. This is the story about the impact on his marriage, his life, and his family.

Director:

Paddy Considine

Writer:

Paddy Considine

Stars:

Paddy Considine, Jodie Whittaker, Paul Popplewell

7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paddy Considine	...	Matty Burton
Jodie Whittaker	...	Emma Burton
Paul Popplewell	...	Jackie
Brendan Ingle	...	Robin Burton
Tony Pitts	...	Richie
Matt Insley	...	Matt not Matty
Lexie Duffy	...	Mia (as Lexi Duffy)
Lainie Duffy	...	Mia
Anthony Welsh	...	Andre Bryte
Francis Warren	...	Boxing Promoter
Junior Witter	...	Andre's Trainer
Simon Burgan	...	Andre's Cornerman
Greg Marriott	...	Andre's Nutritionist
Gareth Davies	...	Journalist 1
Matt Christie	...	Journalist 2

Storyline

Matty Burton is the middleweight boxing champion of the world. Now, coming towards the end of his career, he knows that he must make his money and get out of the game. His aim is to secure a home with his wife Emma, and a future for their baby daughter Mia. After a titanic battle against Andre 'The Future' Bryte, Matty returns home to Emma, but moments later collapses on the living room floor from a delayed reaction to a devastating punch. When Matty awakes from the coma, the real fight begins. Suffering from memory loss and with his personality altered, Matty must begin to piece his life back together as his world disintegrates.

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Taglines:

A snapshot into the life of a struggling boxer

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Genres:

Drama | Sport

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 March 2018 (UK)

Also Known As:

Gyvenimo kova

Filming Locations:

Sheffield United Football Club, Bramall Lane, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, UK

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$220,353

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film4, Inflammable Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Considine plays Matty Burton. Considine was born and raised in a town in Staffordshire also called Burton (Burton-on-Trent). He also went to Burton College where he met now director; Shane Meadows.

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Quotes

Matty Burton: Did we fight?
Andre Bryte: Yeah.
Matty Burton: Who won?

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Connections

Features The Jeremy Kyle Show (2005)

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Soundtracks

Shutdown
Performed by Skepta
Licensed courtesy of Boy Better Know
Written by Joseph Adenuga and Daniel Mukungu
Licensed courtesy of Warner Chappell Music Ltd (PRS) and Domino Publishing Co Ltd, (PRS)

User Reviews

Considine is great. But none of it felt cinematic. It was more like a one-off TV drama.

Boxing is a very well decorated sports sub-genre. You can list off a number of high-quality films from this category that have received high praise from the audience and been given a number of major awards. Two of them have even won Best Picture at the Oscars, Rocky and Million Dollar Baby. But nowadays, I think it's tough to make a really good one now. I feel it as a bit of a worn-out genre. There's not much else you can do different with it.

Now that I've seen Paddy Considine make and star in his own Boxing drama, the story certainly concentrates outside of the ring rather than in it. That's definitely a root that might refresh this genre.

But I felt to be really torn with this one in the end. It starts off with some potential. But I think the pacing of it and general look to it made it look pretty ordinary and dare I say more of a TV drama.

The second half does get better and by the end of it it was a heart-wrenching finale and that was all thanks to Considine.

Paddy Considine was great. It's hard to know what to think of his performance at first. But by the turn of the second half, that's when he truly shines and we get a couple of really emotional moments that did not have a dry eye in the house by the end of it.

Jodie Whittaker was a solid support and had great chemistry with Considine. But sadly, like with a lot of this film, her performance felt better suited to TV.

I've briefly mentioned this already, but the major problem I had with this film was that none of it felt cinematic. It felt more like an excellent one-off TV drama that would win many National TV awards. The story does fall into the trap of a what you expect in a TV movie, the forced themes and melodramatic presentation.

It is a real shame, because Considine's performance comes out really strong by the end of it and enhances everything around him.

Despite the high praise for his acting, there was very little exceptional content outside of that I'm afraid to say. After his incredibly powerful directing in Tyrannosaur, it pains me to say that this did feel disappointing. It's certainly made with good intentions and I think it is still worth seeing for Considine's acting. But maybe wait until you can access it from your home, as that seems to be where you get the best viewing experience.

Rating: 7/10