Movie review: Fighting

On the upside, it telegraphs no punches.

by John P. Meyer

In Fighting, actor Channing Tatum graduates from the dancing choreography he's grown accustomed to and wades hip deep into down-and-dirty fisticuff action - which requires a choreography all its own, of course.

In the process, director/co-writer Dito Montiel has a chance to flash his street-savvy in this moderately ridiculous cinematic blending of Lionheart and Rocky.

(Like Lionheart, the action centers on unsanctioned, underground mano-a-mano money matches; like Rocky, the protagonist is a mushy-mouthed underdog who unaccountably finds a way to come back and win each time he's knocked to the canvas. Or to the marble flooring, as the case may be.)

Poor Shawn MacArthur (Tatum) needs to find a new day job: his latest attempt to hawk a collection of assorted knockoffs (including a bogus Harry Potter book whose title is misspelled) on the streets of Times Sqaure has gone badly, given that: 1) he's been ripped off by scam artists who flag him as an easy mark, and 2) he's had to flee the scene - leaving his hard-earned cash and bogus merch behind - as a result of the ruckus caused by his having beaten the bejesus out of several of the scam artists. With the police hot on his tail, Shawn ducks into a subway rest room and lays low until things blow over.

The next day Shawn bargains his way into a box full of made-in-China telescoping umbrellas - and then proceeds to demonstrate a complete unfamiliarity with the whole umbrella concept by using the open box (i.e., "rain-collection receptacle") to shield himself from a downpour. (We're getting the feeling that Shawn may not have a lot going on upstairs - but at least he has his boyish charm.)

Through a remarkable coincidence, he spots a couple of yesterday's scammers in a diner, and in the process of demanding the return of his stolen funds meets up with the man who will lead him to street fighting greatness: Harvey Boarden (Terrence Howard). Harvey is a small-time hustler with big-time aspirations who apparently knows everyone in the city. More importantly, they know him - particularly the bookies and shady event organizers who put together high-dollar, no-holds-barred fights which attract a lot of off-the-books bet money.

On the basis of the few punches he saw Shawn throw during the altercation on the street the previous day (and, perhaps, the steely glint in his eye; or the set of his thusfar unbroken jaw), Harvey decides that Shawn would be a likely chap to go up against the kind of mad dog bruisers who make their living beating the ever-loving crap out of fresh meat such as he. And so the "fun" begins.

Actually, there's a good deal of fun to be had as Shawn's fights play themselves out. These are entirely spontaneous affairs whose scripting (if any) follows no known genre formula - aside from the one which holds that the hero of the drama must somehow survive into the next reel. They range from a basement brawl against a strapping Russian to a bodega bash-up against a Hispanic hulk with a fondness for the Curly head-slap to a drawing room bout against a fierce Korean with mad martial moves who learns a thing or two about close quarters grappling - before exiting (head first) stage south.

The big showdown comes as Shawn must battle an old acquaintance from his high school days for - as the saying goes - all the money. Things don't go as planned when he squares off against the more seasoned, heavily-favored Evan Hailey (Brian White, sneering engagingly throughout) - but did Shawn glean any wisdom at all from watching Peter La Fleur in Dodgeball? Pony up the price of a movie ticket to find out.

Terrence Howard is a fantastic actor, but he's got his work cut out for him here as he attempts to lend his fresh-faced, clear-eyed visage the kind of beaten-down, worldly-wise experience his character calls for: Ratso Rizzo he just plain ain't. For his part, Channing Tatum seems fine in the lead, but - YIKES! - that vocal delivery! He seems to think (or director Montiel wanted him to act as if) he's starring in the latest mumblecore: stringing three words together seems to be the best he can manage, and even those typically emerge ill-formed.

Regardless, Shawn is somehow able to attract the affection of a comely barback named Zulay (played by fetching relative newcomer Zulay Henao), and it's a good thing he does because otherwise we would never have had a chance to meet Zulay's cantankerous grandmother, Alba Guzmán (Altagracia Guzman). It's Alba's attempts to torpedo the budding romance between her ward and the rough-looking Shawn that provide the much-needed comic relief we've been subliminally craving.

The fight scenes (lensed by DP Stefan Czapsky) are serviceable, though there is a bit much of the "in-your-face, who's-doing-what-to-whom" effect going on for my money. And when we're faced with an extreme close-up of Shawn and Zulay locking lips during the singular kissing scene, I found myself wanting to back off for a bit of perspective - perhaps out to the lobby.

For all its shortcomings, Fighting offers up the kind of raw, bare-knuckled charm we seldom get from big studio productions - and the fact that the fight sequences avoid falling into traditional setpiece patterns means that no one is likely to nod off assuming that they know where the next punch is coming from.