'Fighting' Movie Review

See Fighting for the fight scenes and you're bound to be disappointed. A better title might have been Talking as fighting plays second fiddle, maybe even third fiddle, in this gritty tale set in the world of New York street fighting. Written and directed by Dito Montiel and starring Channing Tatum - their second collaboration (the first being A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints) - Fighting is more interested in who its characters are and their motivation for taking to the streets, than it is in living up to the audience's expectation of action.

While fighting dominates Fighting's trailer, it is not the focal point of the film itself. This one's more about the struggles of two troubled men, and that may make those who came just for the action sequences impatient and antsy. Montiel doesn't rush through the story and those wanting basically a MMA match onscreen are barking up the wrong tree - actually, they'll find themselves sitting in the wrong theater.

The Story

Tatum plays Shawn MacArthur, a recent transplant from Alabama to New York who gets by selling questionable items at a make-shift stand on a NY street. Terrence Howard is a much more street-wise and savvy hustler named Harvey who sets his pack of no-gooders on Shawn, snatching up the small amount of money he earned and sending potential customers scurrying away. Shawn doesn't take this invasion of his sales space lying down, and delivers a beating on Harvey's young cohorts that sets Harvey's mind to spinning. It's easy to see Shawn's got fighting skills and this makes Harvey think twice about the kid they just robbed.

Sure that Shawn has a future in the underground world of high stakes street fighting, Harvey - fairly easily - convinces Shawn to let him set up some fights so they both can earn some decent cash. The catch: the loser of these fights walks away with nothing but a broken body. Only the winner is paid off, but that pay-off can be huge. Shawn goes for it as he's desperately in need of lots of money. Why? we're never really let in on that answer.

Although Shawn's a bit of a hot head with father issues, he's also got a softer side to him which is revealed in his courting of Zulay (played by Zulay Henao). Shawn acts the gentleman, even dealing with an overprotective grandmother (the scene-stealing Altagracia Guzman) who doesn't want a guy who looks like a hoodlum anywhere near her pretty granddaughter. But when he's fighting, Shawn's single-mindedly focused on pummeling his opponent, using mixed martial arts moves and any available handy object that could inflict some damage.

Harvey sets up fights, Shawn does his thing, and they're both on their way to the biggest payday of their lives. But of course there are obstacles blocking their path to the fight of Shawn's life. Some obstacles present themselves in the form of managers of their opponents; some are inner demons they have yet to face down. And because this isn't just about fighting, there's a lot of talking that has to be done and a lot of deep thought must take place before the big showdown can occur.

The Bottom Line

Channing Tatum and Terrence Howard are a formidable onscreen team, and Zulay Henao isn't just a pretty face in the male-dominated production. Montiel gets the best out of Henao and Tatum (Saints is still Tatum's best work to date), but it's Howard that holds this film together with his performance. Howard's Harvey is a hustler who knows his limits and a guy who lives by an interesting code of ethics. Howard is quietly contemplative in moments where other's would have taken the character big, and in that restraint Howard shows just how talented he is.

There's a natural flow to the dialogue that suggests most of what's spoken on screen was improvised. Conversations sound like real conversations. There are mistakes in wording, moments of silence as characters collect their thoughts, and some lines are stumbled over and mumbled through. The quieter moments in which Shawn talks with Harvey about his background and his needs, or when Shawn tries to work his way into Zulay's life by playing nice with her grandmother, make it feel as though we're flies on the wall in apartments of real people. Nothing's rushed. The dialogue isn't there just to feed the way into another action scene.

While the dialogue was stellar and the acting was terrific, the actual storyline left a lot to be desired. There are gaps in logic throughout the film that are never plugged. When does Shawn work out? He looks cut, but the only time we see him do anything to get in shape is a brief segment on a deserted train in which he does a few minutes of exercise. Also, the first fight scene is more like a dance than hand-to-hand combat and it looks staged. On the other hand, the final fight is down and dirty and ruthlessly violent and almost painful to watch. The contrast between the two is astonishing, and Fighting would have been a better film had Montiel captured all the action the way he did in the film's big action showdown.

GRADE: B-

Fighting was directed by Dito Montiel and is rated PG-13 for intense fight sequences, a sex scene and brief strong language.

Theatrical Release Date: April 24, 2009