Girlfight (2000)

reviewed by
Laura Clifford


GIRLFIGHT
---------

Diana's (Michelle Rodriguez) getting into trouble at her Brooklyn High School over her pugilistic tendencies while her single dad Sandro (Paul Calderon, "Out of Sight") is pushing weekly boxing lessons on her artistically inclined younger brother Tiny (Ray Santiago). When Sandro won't give her an allowance, Diana secretly takes matters into her own hands and convinces Tiny's trainer Hector (Jaime Tirelli, "City of Hope") that she can come up with his $10 per lesson fee in this year's Sundance Grand Jury and Director winner, "Girlfight."

LAURA:

"Girlfight" cops a tough feminine 'tude from the get go when star Rodriguez, leaning on a locker, glares up at us from beneath her eyelashes, recalling Malcom McDowell's punk in "A Clockwork Orange." Soon Diana's beating on a pretty classmate who's dared to steal the less attractive Marisol's (Elisa Bocanegra) boyfriend and insult her in the process. She picks up Tiny at the Brooklyn Athletic Club and hauls off and belts Ray, a boxer and classmate ('I couldn't resist,' she says). When Diana goes home, she glowers as she performs the womanly duties of serving dinner and cleaning up, listens to a TV news report of a woman whose boyfriend set her on fire, and watches a neighborhood woman struggle with her small children on the street below.

Diana's not all about feminist brooding sullenness, however, as can be seen when she begins formal boxing training and the top amateur featherweight, Adrian (Santiago Douglas) catches her eye. She listens to Hector, but watches Adrian flirt with his oh-so-feminine girlfriend. Soon they're thrown into each other's company after an amateur bout, sharing dinner at a diner (she orders a rare cheeseburger with extra bacon, he has a salad with a cup of soup) and a ride home. Adrian's intrigued by this woman he can talk to, and, after squiring his trophy girl to an event Diana also attends, is forced to realize Diana's the one for him. Then the real confrontation presents itself - Hector is entering his prize boxer, Diana, in the finals for the amateur featherweight championship - against Adrian.

Writer/Director Karyn Kusama (one time John Sayles' assistant, supported here by his long time producers Sarah Green and Maggie Renzie) has fashioned a film whose main character is so immediately in your face you reject letting her in. Gradually, however, Kusama's screenplay and newcomer Rodriguez' performance win you over before you realize it because they're just so real. Diana, we learn, has a reason to be angry and has very wisely channelled it into something productive. She's also not all fight, caring for Tiny and Marisol, while trying to establish trust with Adrian. She's believable physically, training and sparring in the gym. She subtly projects emotions as well, such as when, discovering a home totally unlike her own, her eyes dart around, taking in all the family pictures. She can be plain (particularly with an eye blackened!) or show smoldering sexiness.

Support is equally strong and well cast, particularly Santiago Douglas' Adrian who undergoes an anti-macho catharsis because of knowing Diana and Jaime Tirelli's good-hearted Hector, a small time trainer whose mind is opened when he finds talent in an unexpected package.

The screenplay never lets its characters take routine paths and builds with a graceful arc. The climatic scene is preceeded by a beautiful silhouette shot of Hector asking Diana 'Do you know him inside? Do you know yourself inside?' The denouement is beautifully realized in front of the dingy window in the broom closet that's been deeded to Diana for a locker in the all-male domain.

Kusama's direction is sure and strong. Along with her cinematographer Patrick Cady and production designer Stephen Beatrice, a real sense of place is created. Whether on the streets, in homes, at school or the gym, we know we're in a real, urban neighborhood. Fight scenes are immediate, with some punches coming right at the camera lens.

The unique score by Theodore Shapiro is heavily percussive, often sounding like castanets backing a metronome. Sound by Mary Ellen Porto is sharp, punctuated with thematic bells and buzzers from school halls to ringside.

"Girlfight" is the real thing.
B+
ROBIN:
N/A

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