Rent Prizefighter (2022)

Unoriginal Boxing Biopic - Prizefighter review by GI

Clearly a passion project for writer, producer and star Matt Hookings but this historical boxing drama offers nothing that tons of other boxing dramas have done before indeed the narrative follows a predictable arc. This is a biopic of 19th Century bare knuckle champion Jem Belcher, a humble blacksmith who became a celebrated champ under the tutelage of trainer Bill Warr (Ray Winstone). It's a rise and fall story as the working class boy is overcome by the wealth and riches that come his way and then has to claw his way back culminating in a grudge bout with the man who has stolen his crown. Hookings never convinces as the blacksmith with his Oxford grad' accent and the presence of such luminaries as Winstone (his usual gruff, down to earth mentor type role), Jodhi May as Belcher's mother with a permanent disapproving face like a wet lettuce, Russell Crowe as Belcher's alcoholic and fight loving grandfather, Marton Csokas as a nasty aristocrat playing his usual slimy cad thing and Steven Berkoff in a cameo that offers little to the story doesn't help to lift this film. Yes it looks good but the unnecessary sex scenes and the fights never really grab you. It's ok I suppose but a film that is instantly forgettable.