Over the long history of boxing films, there has always been one consistent trait: men willing to put themselves through hell for a shot at greatness. Director Sean Ellis’ newest film, The Cut, adds a new spin on the genre, aiming for a Rocky-meets-Whiplash approach. However, despite some strong performances and grueling weight loss, it’s not as frightening or compelling as either of those films.
Our unnamed protagonist, the Boxer (Orlando Bloom, Gran Turismo), is a retired Irish boxing champion haunted by a career-ending defeat ten years prior. He’s been running a gym with his wife/trainer Caitlyn (Caitríona Balfe, Ford v Ferrari) ever since. But the Boxer’s hunger for greatness has not faded, figuratively and literally. Everything changes when he gets the chance to come out of retirement for a title fight in Las Vegas. The only problem: he is thirty-two pounds overweight and has six days to lose it all. Enter Boz (John Turturro, The Room Next Door), a mysterious American trainer who uses borderline abusive tactics to get his fighters into shape. The Boxer must now decide how much he is willing to sacrifice for a chance at redemption.
The performances are the strongest part of The Cut by far. Bloom commits himself to drastically losing weight on screen, with Turturro crossing the line from mentor to abuser. Boz’s “no ripcord” approach to training is grueling, but he almost convinces you that it’s worth it. The film’s main drawbacks are in the minute details. Bloom works hard to convince you he is a working-class Irish lad, but his accent is nearly impossible to understand. Furthermore, the film’s ambition occasionally exceeds its budget.
Most of the film is set in a Vegas hotel as the Boxer prepares for the fight. While it’s meant to invoke a sense of being cramped or claustrophobic, it just feels small. The same applies to the film’s frequent flashbacks to the Boxer’s childhood. He grew up during the Troubles, an armed conflict waged over the independence of Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom. The Boxer’s mother was forced into sex work with British loyalists to feed him, much to his humiliation at school. Thematically, these scenes are supposed to explore the Boxer’s relationship with food and violence, but the production value is never quite convincing.
The Cut is a solid drama but doesn’t quite surpass anything we’ve seen in similar thrillers. The film shines when it shows how Turturro slowly corrupts Bloom over time, but there is little else here to support those scenes. Hopefully, Ellis (The Cursed) will be a cut above next time.
George W. Campbell
George W. Campbell is a director/screenwriter/editor from Bowie, Maryland, whose films focus on themes of family and personal relationships. As a Nicaraguan-American filmmaker, he aims to highlight specific parts of his culture and personal experiences (songs, dances, foods, and language).