A Hard Hitting Boxing Drama
Summary
The Cut isn’t really an action picture and is more of a drama with fantastic performances from Orlando Bloom and John Turturro. It’s harrowing stuff at times and tends to go off the rails a little towards the end, but this is still worth a one time watch.
Plot: After a career-ending defeat, a former champion boxer decides to return to the ring for one last shot at the title. He enters a brutal and unsanctioned weight-cutting program in Las Vegas, guided by an unscrupulous trainer who pushes him to his limits. As he loses himself in the relentless training and the obsession to make the weight, he becomes alienated from his loved ones and reality itself. The film serves as a harrowing and intense sports drama, focusing on the physical and psychological toll of a fighter’s desperate pursuit of glory.
Review: The boxing movie has been many things: the perfect vehicle for stories of downtrodden heroes triumphing over adversity (see “Rocky”) and equally, tales of less-than likeable protagonists (see Jake LaMotta in “Raging Bull”). So, it’s interesting that Sean Ellis’ “The Cut” is a completely different beast altogether. In fact, for a boxing movie, there’s very little boxing in it. Instead, its dealing with the mental toll of life outside the ring and the battle to make weight. The only time we’re really inside the ring is the opening five minutes where Bloom’s character has an unexpected defeat that threatens to derail an impressive fighting career.
Ten years later and Bloom’s character (known only as “The Boxer”), can’t really move on from the past. He is running a gym with his wife, Caitlin (Caitríona Balfe) when the opportunity to fight in Vegas comes along. The catch being that the fight is in a week and he needs to lose 30 pounds to get down to fighting weight. Thus begins the arduous, dangerous and, at times, deeply disturbing journey to get there.
Orlando Bloom is a revelation. Bringing a performance that’s edgy, fidgety and never overwrought. He is deeply invested in this character and transforms not only his appearance but any expectations that the viewer might have about him coming into this movie.
Particularly impressive are his quiet, intimate scenes with Caitlin. We totally feel a life lived with these two. Each has their own ghosts and demons and are struggling to break free from the past. Their scenes together are not over-played nor feel like emotional grandstanding. There’s depth here. There’s an attempt to truly understand each other’s emotions and to find acceptance. Balfe too is impressive in her restraint, showing strength and vulnerability in equal measure.
But it’s the hunger that is central to this movie. Figuratively and literally. The Boxer longs to prove himself as he grapples with repressed trauma from a troubled childhood but is also hungry for food beyond the scraps he’s served in preparation for the big fight.
There’s a lot going on here, including flashbacks to Ireland during the Troubles and some frenetic and disorienting editing as the boxer’s mental stability unravels (which isn’t a criticism in itself), that sometimes feels like it’s maybe trying to cover too much ground. Bloom’s performance is so strong, his past doesn’t necessarily need to be filled in to feel his pain and torment.
When the boxer eventually gets in tow with the ruthless and relentless trainer, Boz (an always excellent, John Turturro) things seem destined to go to extremely dark places…and they do as Boz “doesn’t love anyone except winning” and will do whatever it takes to make it happen.
As the weigh-in approaches, things start to get progressively unhinged, including one or two plot points that felt a step too far in believability. But I did wonder if, at this point, are we watching things from the boxer’s point-of-view? Is he an unreliable narrator?
Ultimately, the film presents us with one simple question: is it worth it?
Witnessing the trail of destruction, from broken relationships to mental and physical torture it would be hard to feel that it is. But “The Cut” presents a different view of the Boxing world that certainly gives the viewer pause for thought.