"I Know Exactly How To Give Up. You Know What Scares Me Kev? Is That It's Easy..."
As soon as you walk into the cosmos of a boxing movie, there is always the risk of cliche from the get-go. Ever since Rocky became the Oscar-winning blueprint for sporting films, many have trembled in its' wake and fallen ever so heavily under the weight of its' importance in cinematic history. Although earlier this year Creed began a successful new branch of Rocky lore, we now have Bleed For This, a cinematic adaptation of the remarkable true story of world champion boxer Vinny Pazienza, directed by Ben Younger and featuring a strong cast including Mile Teller, Aaron Eckhart, Ciaran Hinds and Katey Sagal, and a film which although does suffer inherently from the issues of similarities from previous and better films which adapt a similar theme, succeeds in being an enjoyable foray into the extravagant life of one of boxing's most infamous figures and the extraordinary tale of one of sports' most fantastical comebacks.
In terms of dissecting the film of which Bleed For This seems to be of similar ilk, you can't sway away David O. Russel's The Fighter, a film which not only examined the life of a similarly ambitious boxer but a film which also took into account the awkward angle of the dysfunctional family, with mother, brother and the love interest all having their own opinions regarding the best thing for Mark Wahlberg's titular fighter. In the case of Bleed For This, not only is the dysfunctional family an angle the movie looks at, but the added notion of Pazienza's horrific injury adds another level for which the film takes in its' stride. Think Million Dollar Baby, yet less effective in terms of a work of drama and there you have Bleed For This, a solid sporting movie which although is slightly too long and drags out the amount of time our on-screen hero wades in his self-pity, is bolstered by a sublime performance from Miles Teller, who goes full on in his attempt to look the part, and features more comedic quips than the majority of mainstream so-called comedies, making Bleed For This not exactly on the level of Creed, but enjoyable nonetheless.
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