'The Boxer'
A movie review by Walter Frith
Oscar-winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis and director Jim Sheridan have combined their talents on two previous films, 'My Left Foot' (1989 for which Daniel Day-Lewis won the Best Actor Oscar) and 'In the Name of the Father' (1993) and these two films have made a powerful impact on the film industry and Day-Lewis and Sheridan continue their good working relationship with 'The Boxer'. The creative mind of director Sheridan is a dramatic one at best with hardly any comic relief and that's great to see. His writing partner Terry George worked with him on 'In the Name of the Father' and teams up with Sheridan this time to write a film that once again has it's story line roots in the Irish Republican Army. 'In the Name of the Father' showcased Lewis in a true story as a wrongfully convicted man sent to prison for fifteen years along with three others for a bombing they had nothing to do with. He was accused of being a member of the IRA in that film and plays a former one in 'The Boxer.'
Released from prison after 14 years for his actions within the IRA, Daniel Day-Lewis stars as a boxer who returns to his former neighbourhood in Belfast and opens a boxing gym and tries to bring peace to the region by promoting boxing events that will unite Catholics and Protestants in the entertaining spectacle of it all. Some of his former associates within the IRA object to his peace making efforts and sabotage his actions by connecting them to further the cause of IRA violence. In one case a policeman's death is caused by a car bomb outside the arena on the night of one Day-Lewis' boxing matches, sparking riots and his boxing gym is burnt to the ground in the mayhem. All the while this is happening, Day-Lewis is re-uniting with an old flame (Emily Watson) whom he courted before he was sent away to prison. She is the wife of an imprisoned IRA man and is raising a young son and is caught between her feelings for Day-Lewis and he loyalty to marital fidelity.
'The Boxer' works on many levels. The film has an incredibly simple tone and feel to it but is a powerful drama of spinning proportions. It has a slow beginning but is one of those films that's to be appreciated once the entire thing is absorbed. For a man released from incarceration, Day-Lewis plays his role in a very low-key manner as a man who knows he's wasted half his life and is determined to make the most of things from now on. There is a constant reference to many of the character actors in the film who discuss IRA activities on a regular basis and the secret meetings show dissent within the organization and the eventual downfall of one of its members in a very violent fashion.
When Neil Jordan made 'The Crying Game' in 1992 to the release of Jim Sheridan's 'In the Name of the Father' in 1993, there was a cease fire declared within the IRA after that and although violence has flared up once again in a few incidents, at least the release of those two films and their messages of anti-violence caused some movement towards ending the bloodshed. Films CAN change things socially and politically.
An art film in every sense of the word, 'The Boxer' is a well-crafted piece of film making, derived from social statements of the past, relying on the future in which films like this will continue to thrive within the community of film lovers who appreciate this sort of thing.
OUT OF FOUR > * * * *
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