Fighting Tommy Riley (2005)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

If you want to watch a movie with fighting, DO NOT WATCH THIS. Ended abruptly and horribly and I cannot believe it was allowed to be a movie. Very bad. On the other hand, if you want to watch a story with NO fighting and maybe be a little sad, because of the story yes but also because this movie was horrible enough to make a grown man cry out of mere regret that he wasted his time watching it, this IS the movie for you! No fighting, like I said. I saw this movie rated as pretty good on a site that rates boxing and fighting movies and I was at first going to say I can't believe it got a decent score, which i still am going to say that but now I realize it should not of even been on that sight because i would under no circumstances classify a movie that has no fighting in it as a fighting or boxing movie. Very very disappointed. Watch Cinderella man instead.

FIGHTING TOMMY RILEY is a movie that tries to bring up an issue but manages to corrupt it and come off stinking in its own hypocrisy. Coming off of having seen such films as Cinderella MAN, ROCKY, and MILLION-DOLLAR BABY, this one was shown on gay network LOGO and I felt the curiosity tugging at me, because (I thought) it would be interesting to see a film that touched gay issues while showcasing a plot in a masculine environment. The plot: nothing out of the ordinary. If anything, it follows Clint Eastwood's movie almost step by step from start to about two thirds, when it suddenly devolves into a complete mess tinted with shades of shrieking maudlin. (Actually, MILLION DOLLAR BABY did have a similar detour into maudlin but we're comparing fine, aged wine and this is poor man's vino.) Because, you see, there is the catch: the trainer (Eddie Jones) is gay, and the cocky fighter with the chiseled looks (J. P. Davis) is prone to gay panic and fake machismo. And in this world, the mix is as harmonious as oil and water. The problem with FIGHTING TOMMY RILEY is that it offers no resolution to the way the relation between Riley and Marty has until then progressed, and the implausibility of Tommy not being aware of a speck of gay interest coming from Marty, especially in the scene where Marty decides to massage Tommy, is ridiculous. Even more implausible is how Marty later comes off as a male (and portly) version of Martha Dobie, but the crowning achievement is how Tommy sheds not a tear at learning of Marty's fate and moves on. Because, as you see, when you become close to another person, that is exactly how you should react to their demise. And that's probably why this dreadful movie is not more known: it's a travesty.

This is a superlative movie and I'll try to put any spoilage at the end. There are multiple themes interwoven in the script. The first and most important theme is that of redemption and of course the second chance. Eddie Jones is the trainer who is an educator, and to some extent, a rescuer of damaged souls. One of the surprises is that he needs rescuing himself. While set in a framework of a traditional fight movie, it does have something extra. If you haven't yet had the privilege of seeing this flick, stop reading here. I would say any spoiler begins here: I don't generally go in for the gay experience in movies as it doesn't interest me as a dramatic theme or personally. Just a matter of personal taste. I don't give a damn about orientation except as it relates to fairness and decency to other people. It does here. There is a strong theme of love and trust here with the gay's place in a "manly" sport. It is this tension that provides so much drama and is so important to us all when we consider how we treat each other.Jones' character has an almost Christlike ability to repair another's broken spirit and it is his hubris (for the purpose of the drama) that his orientation has interfered with both his career as boxer and trainer, as well as his own sense of worth. His self-sacrifice for his protégé elevates this drama and gives it much of its specialness.The theme of love and self-worth are masterfully handled here. The secondary theme that love transcends orientation - that it should not matter - is illustrated well here. One's human obligations trump one's personal tastes somehow. I loved the trainer's sense of caring and him personally, and it is one of the triumphs of this flick that Tommy Riley does too, in his own hetero way. More importantly, trust, character, and humane values are validated here as well.I was also intrigued by the art and techniques of using facial aspect to show different stages and struggles in character development. The ways the director and cinematographer use the visual effects of contrast in facial definition are notable. From the somewhat maniacal face of lust and personal struggle in the face of the trainer at one point, to the final difference we see in Tommy's face itself at the end: more mature, seasoned, and somehow stronger for the sense of love, loss, and yet redemption, seen in his visage. A most striking way of making one's point. I give this film both my thumbs up.

It's all been done before, more or less. The production values were pretty low on the spectrum. The actor playing the manager was so hyped that I was almost certain to be in for the letdown I felt. The ending, to me, felt a bit unfair to one character's integrity.It isn't anything to write home about, plot-wise. Washed up boxer/manager turned English teacher "discovers" angry, washed-up boxer and former Olympic hopeful. Each has their demons. Each needs each other. Both start to blossom until circumstances test them both professionally and emotionally. Sound familiar? Adding a few doses of character study and melodrama to an old mix does not make it any less familiar (and yellowing with age).I'm waiting, truth be told, for a new kind of boxing movie to emerge. The variations on Stallone have so little left to tweak out; and even though I liked both this movie and Clint Eastwood's recent foray into the genre, the attempt of each to manipulate and personalize the genre feels contrived, often forced, and derivative. Even the one part of this movie that seems significantly different, that the manager is highly literate and even poetic, somehow seems a bit stilted in the overall course of the film.Still, the movie has some real power, and even some real surprise. JP Davis (and maybe I am saying this because he is exceptionally sexy) has a real smoldering star quality about his performance, as well as a few beautifully touching choices as an actor. His reaction to some darker developments in the story, both as character and as actor, seem just subtle and nuanced enough to be believable, wrenching and even quietly surprising. After viewing the film, I also realized that one part of the usual formula had a bit of a shift in this film: while the main character certainly has his clichéd meteoric rise in rank, there are moments where he actually wins fights but shows bad form and is anything but coveted in the mainstream boxing circles. Most boxing films seem to make greatness in the sport all about winning, knocking people out regardless of form and execution, while this one makes a few very small steps to point out that a win is not all that is being looked at in championship fighting.Overall, I had a good feeling from the movie and would recommend it. It left me thinking, ad I always appreciate that in a film. I wish the manager had been less about pretty words and trite mantras, however. I wish that there had been an ending that was a little less manipulative. I still cannot deny that I was moved and even quite thrown back by the writer/star whom I had never heard of, and whom I believe may be a force to reckon with if the right people find him.