GIRLFIGHT review
Published at: Oct. 5, 2000, 5:35 a.m. CST by headgeek
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.