GIRLFIGHT review

There is a great film currently out there in the world... Why it might even be playing at a wonderful theater near you this very moment.

This is one of the best films you’ll see this year... and right now... we filmgoers are smack dab in the middle of film hell... There is more Hollywood dreck destroying the purity and sanctity.

Now I remember when we first began getting reports about GIRLFIGHT way back when Bradley and Lynn Bracken were filling us in upon its performance at Sundance this year.... where it split the top prize honors.... and folks... some 8 months after... I’m sitting here in a theater in Austin, Texas discovering exactly why.

GIRLFIGHT is utterly fantastic.

At the beginning of things you might find yourself thinking... “Hmmm, what’s so special about this?” But as you sit there in the theater you begin to become completely and utterly enthralled by the journey that Michelle Rodriguez’s character goes on.

This is the story about that bad girl... In old 1950’s films she was Barbara Payton or even later on in film... I’m talking about Rizzo from GREASE. This isn’t a film about Sandra Dee or Annette Funicello or Sarah Michelle Gellar....

Michelle Rodriguez is that tough as nails... claw your eyes out, spit up your nose, knee to the groin sort of gal that looks out the top of her eyelids while flicking a burning smoldering cigarette butt into your heaving chest. She’s tough.... dresses down, tomboy through and through.

She causes trouble at school, kicks the dung out of the high class nose wavers that pick on the lesser haves... And there comes a point where she has a moment of direction for her life.

Now, guys... This is not a ‘girly’ film... the fighting and the boxing in it is superbly handled and shot... In fact there is one thing that Karen Kusama (the director) and Plummy Tucker (the editor) do that is... stunning. Hands down it worked so well that it left me a bit punch drunk. You see... in the boxing scenes... you’ll find Michelle punching straight into camera... you’ll see this sudden bright flash of WHITE... then the camera adjusting as if recovering from the blow as Michelle’s fist pulls back for the next blow.

The results of this is a very very disrupting and affecting effect. The film is dark, so when these bright flashes come... your eyes are impacted... My head jarred back because... well I’m a redhead.. bright light really really hurts my eyes... and MAN WAS IF EFFECTIVE! The result for me was the most kinetic experience I’ve had with a boxing moment in film.

That’s saying alot cause I grew up with Balboa and ol Jake pummeling me in theaters as a child... but damn it worked good for me.

Now... on another level... You care about this character. I found myself completely involved with what was going on with her. And when she has an altercation with her father in the kitchen of her home.... Dear lord, I began shaking. I mean... the scene was just violently upsetting. In boxing films... we always concentrate on the winning or the fight or the big... whatever it is that the fighter is working towards. From THE CHAMPION to THE LEATHER PUSHERS to ROCKY and so on.... They are films about succeeding in the profession. Here, here we finally really and truly see a profound psychological reason that the character boxes. And when it is revealed.... It emotionally resonates like you are not prepared for.

I want the next film, I want a sequel... I want to know what happens next for her.... I want to visit this character every year. She is just fantastic.

Reward this film with your presence and it will reward you tenfold. I cannot recommend this film highly enough. It is powerful and impactful filmmaking.

This isn’t just a story about bad kid makes good... It’s about turning hate and frustration into something else. And the film is fantastic. Enjoy. I know you will.