THE BOXER
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1998 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
"You can't believe the relief it was to feel the pain," Danny Flynn tells his ex-sweetheart, Maggie. Danny, once an IRA terrorist has been incarcerated for most of his adult life. Released for good behavior, his feelings have been bottled up inside until his recent boxing match, when he was beaten to a pulp. Although he was convicted for his IRA activities, which he now renounces, his passion has always been boxing.
Daniel Day-Lewis in another of his meticulous performances plays Danny in THE BOXER. Emily Watson, whose 1996 performance in BREAKING THE WAVES has been unsurpassed by any actor since then, plays Maggie. In an underwritten role, she manages to shine with her intensity and sincerity. The chemistry between them is taut and real. The complication in their affair and the reason it has trouble getting rekindled is that she is married to an IRA member in prison. Even dance with a prisoner's wife, and the IRA will blow your knee caps off, or worse.
A beautiful story with wonderful performances by an ensemble cast, it suffers a single but all-encompassing problem, the over-restrained tone set by the director, Jim Sheridan. Sheridan, whose previous films with Daniel Day-Lewis were MY LEFT FOOT and IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, normally brings emotional fire to his subjects, but this time he takes a too cerebral approach to the material. You can almost feel him keeping his actors' emotions in check. At certain points in the story, when things are going most awry with Danny, the picture comes into its full glory, but at others it just hints at what could have been.
Sheridan's meticulous staging of the IRA activities at the time of a truce has an almost documentary authenticity. The details, including the way they smuggle in Maggie's father, Joe (Brian Cox), since he is an IRA big-wig, are fascinating to watch. And when Joe, who wants to negotiate a peace treaty, is challenged by Gerard McSorley in a chilling performance as Harry, one of his lieutenants, the tension is palpable. Harry doesn't trust anyone, least of all someone from the other side offering an olive branch. Joe's peace negotiations are prima facie evidence to Harry than Joe has sold out. The result makes for an unglamorized view of the IRA's inner workings.
Danny sets up a "nonsectarian" gym ("The Holy Family Boxing Club"), in which both sides of the struggle meet and box. A radical but subtle pacifist, Danny becomes a symbol of the struggle for peace and thus hated by Harry and his men. Against this backdrop, the romance between Danny and Maggie tries to unfold but their constraints are too strong.
A disappointing show but a powerful one without a bad performance in it, it never quite engages the audience. The last third of the story, especially the ending, where things don't go according to plan brings out some of the strong passions that are rarely in evidence in the rest of the picture. Even given its flaws, its haunting images are likely to stay with you for a while.
THE BOXER runs 1:50. It is rated R for violence and profanity and would be fine for teenagers.
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