Folks, Harry here... Before I let All Thumbs take over... I have to say... SHE'S DEAD RIGHT! THIS IS A WONDERFUL MOVIE! I'm writing about it right now and hopefully will have my review ready tonight. Here's the lovely All Thumbs...
Director Karyn Kasuma's "Girlfight" is a tough movie.
From the first shot of a ferocious glare from the main character, Diana, you know this movie isn't going to be one of those typical flicks about the girl who balances her man and her sport. This also isn't a sports movie where the most important thing is the character making it to that "final fight" where she squares off against a big bully.
Michelle Rodriguez is perfect as Diana, a girl who has to fight her way through a life that is going nowhere. She fights at school. She fights with her abusive father. She finally decides to take it into the ring and joins the local boxing club. Rodriguez gives us a perfect example of a girl who has to balance her temper and her strength in order to maintain some control and sometimes resorts to indifference to the obstacles in her way.
I liked how the movie didn't stereotype Diana's experience of being one of the few women to belong to a man's sport. When she first tries to join the club, the trainers think she's only looking for a good workout and tell her to join an aerobics class. After she shows seasoned trainer Hector that she is willing to work and ready to sweat, he sees her potential and decides to train her. He becomes the main father-figure in Diana's life and gives her the tough but positive support she needs to succeed.
I was afraid that Diana's romance between her and another boxer, Adrian, was also going to be stereotyped, but their relationship builds naturally. Diana asks Adrian where it is going to lead and he answer realistically, "I don't know." The relationship is not a focus of the film, but a way to show how Diana changes and grows during the course of the picture. Like many of the male boxers in the club, Adrian seems to be a little insecure around Diana as a boxer. He shows her respect, but at first doubts and then lets his insecurities come between them as he fears she is getting better than him in the ring.
One of my favorite things about this film was the noise. Kasuma uses the sounds to bring the viewer into Diana's world. In her apartment in the projects you hear the distant sounds of car alarms and sirens as you are aware how paper-thin the walls are that let in sounds of people shuffling and arguing in the surrounding apartments. The sounds make you feel the force of the punches Diana takes and throws during her fights. Music with a steady rhythm is used during many of the fights, giving you the feel that this is not a sport, but a dance. The same music also is used during some of the interaction between Diana and some of the other characters and shows how her life is like her boxing. She must always be alert and ready for anything.
Kasuma also makes good use of the visuals. The film looks grainy and textured with muted colors except when Diana fights in and out of the ring. During one fight between Diana and a female opponent from another district many parts of this scene are shown from the perspective of Diana and the other girl. When a punch hits the face there is a flash of white from the boxing glove. It confuses the senses and messes with the tempo of the fight so the audience never relaxes during the fight.
The fights in this film, even the final fight, are not cheesy and romanticized. They aren't the type of fights where every punch brings a spray of blood, but when a boxer is hit, you feel the punch with them. The stress is on the force of the fighting and the emotions inside and out of the ring. Diana doesn't always win and even when she wins, she loses in some way. The film does not wrap up with a happy ending, but with a realistic view of how things are unsure for Diana and many of the other characters in the future.
Basically, anyone who doesn't go see this movie because they don't want to watch a movie about a woman boxer or are turned off by the romance aspects of the story is definitely missing out on a great film.
All Thumbs
