Customer Reviews

The Boxer (Collector's Edition)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a great film and I've watched it several times. The photography is stunning. The musical score is brilliant. The characters are believable and endearing. The film does not take sides except to say "Enough!" Enough bloodshed. Enough hatred. Enough poverty. Northern Ireland has had enough.

Daniel Day Lewis and Emily Watson give stellar performances. I saw Emily Watson in "Breaking the Waves" which I did not understand at all, but I did recognize a fine actress. I've seen all of Daniel Day Lewis' films--even his early releases. This is one of my favorite DDL films--a difficult choice as he has made so many excellent films. The supporting cast is composed of first class actors. The scenes are terribly realistic. I still jump when a bomb explodes early in the movie, and the boxing scenes are fabulous. (In the fifties I was a fan of Carmine Basilio, so I know what the real thing looks like.)

The contrast of stark, war-torn Belfast with tenacious individuals attempting to lead relatively normal lives--marrying, having children, teaching day-school, mopping floors, is heart-rending. Who wouldn't root for peace?

Those who have taken one side or the other in this awful conflict might not appreciate the neutrality of the film. That is the whole point. Most of the Irish are fed up and want to get on with their lives. I thought the coincidence of the film release with the current peace process effort was grand.

It's odd that a film about such a volatile subject (Northern Ireland's "Troubles") should be so understated in its way, but Jim Sheridan's "The Boxer" is just that--despite the occasional explosion and political assassination. The trailers that I saw in theaters a few years back almost suggested one of those "lovers-torn-apart-in-a-world-gone-mad" films that we've all come to know and find suspect. But the tone of the actual film is really quite muted.

What makes "The Boxer" ring true is the very tentativeness of the relationship between Daniel Day-Lewis and Emily Watson's characters. One time teenage lovers, they have been separated for 14 years while Danny Flynn (Day-Lewis) served a prison term for unspecified political activity. Released now, at the age of 32, he wants only to be left alone and to resume his boxing career. To Sheridan's credit, the irony that the BOXER has, in fact, become a man of peace is not dwelled upon. Nor is the tentative reunion with his lost love exactly the stuff of Sturm und Drang.

There is an overall sense of Irish reserve in the film, a sense that brutal political realities have left all of its characters emotionally stunted. That may be "The Boxer's" greatest achievement, in fact, that the human cost of this political tragedy is not just measured in the body counts, but in the thousands of "small deaths" each individual experiences almost daily.

I love Daniel Day-Lewis. His wounded slow burn as Danny Flynn, a man recently released from prison after more than a decade, returning to his old neighborhood and trying to escape the ghosts of his past but confronted by the woman he (still) loves, who has married and had a child and a host of friends still separated by the politics of war is a quiet revelation. While his attempt to revive his career as a fighter fizzles and his life is under constant threat, Danny makes the most of his situation by standing up against the opression and laws that have cost so many of his friends their freedom and in some cases, their lives. Emily Watson is note perfect as his former love interest and she brings a quiet dignity to her role as a single mother torn between devotion to her imprisoned husband, protecting her pre-teen son, and her resurging feelings for Danny. While many won't like the tone and pacing of this film, I find it entrancing and marvel at Day-Lewis vulnerable, quiet power. Superb!

THE BOXER is a *powerful* film. It's hard not to get involved in the life of Danny Flynn, played by Daniel Day-Lewis and Maggie, played beautifully by the amazing Emily Watson. This is probably my favorite film to address the conflict in Northern Ireland. The film reeks of the tension and brooding atmosphere of that troubled area of the world. Flynn is a boxer who has just been released from prison after fourteen years. He returns to a home where nothing is what it once was; his girlfriend is married and has a son, his neighbors are suspicious of him, the neighborhood goons attempt to suck him back into his old life. All he wants to do is run a gym and box. The development of the story is heartbreaking as Maggie and Danny begin to rediscover old feelings for each other in the midst of the turmoil. Maggie's husband is in prison himself, and Danny must tread carefully to avoid upsetting anyone. Loyalties change and are questioned. When Danny bucks the system things begin to get interesting...

A beautiful film with gorgeous color and a high quality DVD transfer in every respect. Everyone should see this film once.

Highly recommended.

After reading a couple of mixed reviews about THE BOXER, I delayed seeing it, and I probably would have skipped it entirely if it weren't for the sterling reputations of co-stars Emily Watson and Daniel Day Lewis. (The latter plays the role of Danny Flynn, a man imprisoned for 14 years for his role in an IRA bombing.)

More fool me. THE BOXER slowly impresses the viewer with its complex storyline, quiet demeanor and subtle dialogue. Watson and Lewis absolutely nail their roles as lovers who were separated at the age of 18, and now find themselves in the awkward roles of adults resuming a teenaged courtship. In a Hollywood film, the two would ultimately hop into bed with a rousing musical score; not so here.

While Watson and Lewis bring uncanny eloquence to their soft-spoken characters, perhaps most fascinating about THE BOXER is the culture of Ireland, specifically the political etiquette and sectarian hatred that each character has to dance around with.

SIDELIGHTS: This film is only nominally about boxing. Oh, and the Dublin flats that stand in for this movie's Belfast projects have since been razed, and upscale apartments now stand there.

A brilliant actor in chronically off-putting roles, Daniel Day-Lewis turns in his most accessible performance to date. As the title character, he's local boy, Danny Flynn, released from jail after 14 years and now coming back to his old Belfast neighborhood. It's not an easy return considering that he's no longer chummy with his IRA roots and that he's still has a yen for his former girlfriend Maggie (Emily Watson) who happens to be the local IRA chief's daughter.

*** Director and co-writer Jim Sheridan has constructed a complex film running on three distinct courses: the IRA, Danny's boxing, and the love story between Danny and Maggie. Each are remarkable on their own, but intertwined together, they become even more powerful.

*** Although it gets the least screen time, the love story is especially wonderful. Daniel Day-Lewis and Emily Watson reunite their characters in such a careful, intense manner that you're literally holding your breath watching them. It's absolutely exquisite.

I have never seen a Daniel Day Lewis film that wasn't a true piece of art. His acting is brilliant. Every role he plays in is so believable. Being Irish an a huge boxing fan I truly loved this film. It gave accurate information on the turmoil that is to this day going on in Ireland. A must see, even for the non boxing fans.

'The Boxer' is a riveting story about one man's struggle during 'The Troubles' of Northern Ireland. The setting is Belfast, where the Catholic and Protestant sections are divided by concrete walls, barb-wire fences, and machine-gun toting soldiers. Danny Flynn, played by Daniel Day-Lewis, is a Catholic former IRA member who is released from prison after serving 14 years. He comes home with the intention of resuming his boxing career, and staying out of trouble. He immediately starts up his old gym, and at first, things are going well. Along with his own training, the gym becomes a sort of refuge for neighborhood kids, and boxing becomes a constructive outlet in an otherwise negative environment. But when the gym starts trying to bring together Catholics and Protestants in the name of boxing, some of Flynn's old IRA comrades think he has gone too far. On top of this, Flynn manages to ruffle more feathers by falling back in love with his old girlfriend, who has since married another imprisoned IRA member. Naturally, in the underworld culture of the IRA, this is a big no-no. Realizing his predicament, Flynn decides to leave for London where he attempts to resume his boxing career. But deciding that no one will run him out of his home, he soon returns to Belfast determined to stand his ground and follow his heart.

This film was right up my alley. I am of Irish descent, I'm a huge boxing fan, and also an aspiring historian. So naturally, a boxing film, set in war-torn Northern Ireland would seem to be my kind of movie. I was not disappointed. The boxing scenes were very well done, and Day-Lewis comes off as a very convincing fighter. He is, in my opinion, one of the best and most under-rated actors in the business. His performance here only reinforced that belief. Overall, the acting in the film was fantastic, with several outstanding performances. 'The Boxer' is simply a great film.

Like all really great actors, Daniel Day-Lewis just keeps getting better and better with age. He seems capable of being in any role and delivering the person he is supposed to be. I was fascinated by the fact that he indeed does box and is quite good at it as well. Doesn't surprise me that he is good because this is a man committed to whatever project he undertakes and gives his all. I have not gone into the actual movie here because so many of the reviews reveal so much of the intensity of this marvelous film. I don't think it would have made it without Daniel Day-Lewis. Why isn't he used more frequently? We are missing a lot of wonderful performances. Very good movie about a very sad situation that unfortunately still exists today in many places in this mixed-up world, and did exist in Belfast, Ireland until a relatively short time ago. Thank God there are people that keep trying to come to some kind of resolution when such problems do exist. This movie goes a long way in trying to give a real overview of everyday life that exists when you are forced to live with violence. Try this film. You'll be glad you did.

This review comes from my mother who was extremely pleased with this movie. There should have been a higher number of stars to choose from on your rating scale, because to her this movie is worth at least six stars. In the forty years she has been watching movies she hasn't found any other actor to perform the way Daniel Day-Lewis does here. If you liked his performance in The Last of the Mohicans you will love this movie. He is the true definition of a what a real man should look and act like.