NOSTALGIA
Gladiator 1992
(no.. not that one.. the other one..)
(no.. not that one.. the other one..)
Top of the head, hardest part of the body. Directed by Rowdy Herrington who's known for Swayze's Roadhouse & Bruce Willis' masterpiece Striking Distance. LOL.
The movie is set in chilly Chicago. Where a poor, yet low level Good Will Hunting, has moved with his father. It's Dangerous Minds fused with illegal unground boxing circuits. The story unfolds as a young Tommy Riley played by James Marshal struggles to make ends meet. As the new kid at any school he is bullied by one of the rivalling gangs, but is quick make comrades with Romano & Lincoln. Cuba Gooding Jr, plays Abraham Lincoln Haines who affectionately refers to Tommy as the White Ghost. Their friendship is believable as fate encounters show their true colours of just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Whilst working late at a diner as a dish hand, Tommy has an altercation with one of the gang leaders. A boxing promoter breaks it up and offers Tommy a "one night" boxing match making it worth his while. |
With his families debt and washing dishes wage he quickly does the math to reluctantly be lead into this bloody, highly dangerous underground boxing.
Whilst his boxing is rusty, his guts, his heart & help from the Rocky equivalent of Mickey, develop him from a brawler into boxer.
Jimmy Horn (Brian Dennehy) organises the matches with his weasel sidekick Pappy Jack. They take Tommy under their manipulative wings in order to harness a great boxing potential for serious financial gain. Dennehy plays a great villian as he exploits these poor school kids to turn a quick handsome profit.
"Top of the head, hardest part of the body."
This is one of my favourite lines of dialogue & something I actually remember should I ever get into fist-a-cuffs with someone. This is one of those lines that gets used a few times and carries a weight in each saying. You'll just have to watch it! |
This film has a raw element and is one of those classics that gets better every time I see it. It is in my nostalgic area of reviews as it might not be any everyones cup of tea, but does have the following
This alone is enough to keep the audience wanting to see how things unfold for Tommy as you sympathise with his character and with the clear good guys v.s bad guys. I give this one the old one-two.. Err.. Here it is.. 7.8 broken knuckles out of 10. |
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