PRICE OF GLORY A film review by Steve Rhodes Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2
Carlos Ávila's PRICE OF GLORY is the answer for those who think that the problem with bad television is that the screen is too small. With schmaltz so thick that you could cut it with a knife, this sappy TV movie-of-the-week is set to open in your local multiplex and not your living room.
Nominally telling the story of "The Fighting Ortegas," the story is really about a father, Arturo Ortega (Jimmy Smits), who wants his three boys to succeed in the boxing world where he failed. Rushed along too quickly by an uncaring promoter, Arturo ended up working "on a crappy assembly line" rather than enjoying the fruits of a championship career.
Devoting his life to training his sons, he relinquishes the job of being their father in order to concentrate his energies on managing their careers. Each of the lads, Sonny (Jon Seda), Jimmy (Clifton Collins Jr.) and Johnny (Ernesto Hernández), turn into contenders.
When we first meet the brothers as young children, their father is already yelling at them and throwing them against lockers for not trying hard enough in their Silver Gloves competition. As they grow up, they will continue to take the abuse with remarkably little rebellion.
The attractive women in the story provide the supporting wallpaper. They smile a lot and say encouraging things to their men. Other than backing the male members of the cast, they have no other reason for their existence.
As the mildest of villains, Ron Perlman plays a slightly slimy but extremely successful boxing promoter named Nick Everson. Nick, who has the face of a large gargoyle, sports big sunglasses and smokes foot-long cigars.
The real delight of the movie, since it provides so many unintentional laughs, is Phil Berger's heavily-clichéd script. ("The only one that can beat you is you." "I want to talk to the man upstairs." "Do you think we've got a guarantee? Do you think any of us here have a guarantee?") Although I can't recall them ever saying, "be the best that you can be," I suspect it was in the script but was removed in the final editing.
The movie, unlike the recent, disastrous PLAY IT TO THE BONE, ends in a reasonably decent big match. The outcome is never in doubt, but at least it is filmed invitingly and edited lucidly. The ending of PRICE OF GLORY isn't exactly memorable, but, compared to the rest of the movie, it is the only winning sequence.
PRICE OF GLORY runs too long at 1:57. It is rated PG-13 for violence, language and brief drug content and would be acceptable for teenagers.
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
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