The Pugilist

I am a sucker for a revenge flick, but this just doesn't deliver. In fact, I kept clicking to see how long was left. The characters do not mature, the acting is atrocious (bar Grace Calder, I thought she was good) and the story doesn't really go anywhere. Predictable and full of clichés.

Almost an hour into the film the lead guy explains to his dead son's partner how he was so bad, there is nothing less memorable than a character telling another how important an event was, there's a Chinese proverb "What I hear I forget, what I see I remember......" I really couldn't get behind the lead character because I experienced so little, viscerally as to what he experienced to become the man he is and the man he wants to be, there are some conflict scenes that try to show the protagonist and how much the pursuit of his goal means so much but they're not well written, not compelling enough. And then he gives up on the goal...so why am I supposed to care, be invested? The acting is really bad..painful, my god! even the guy from GOT can't save this and I don't blame him, he hasn't been given anything to work with, some of the actors try but it's still bad. The reveal that the protagonist's brother is dirty is so out of left field, from nowhere, "deus ex machina", my God it's the easiest thing to write and the most unsatisfying, heck you could throw anything in there if that's the way you're writing, his daughter in law is a secret agent for MI5, his living son is the leader of a rival crime family to the other boss guy...see how easy that was? is that well written?. What makes great writing is launching a question that's compelling and unexpected as per the answer and having the answer hiding in plain sight but secluded enough the viewer can't answer until the payoff e.g. 'Inception' Question: Did Leo's character kill his wife? why? how? the answer is hiding in plain sight, it's the title of the film, he comes out and say's he's done it before and admits he's ashamed of the how and why...admit it, the first time you watched the film you didn't guess the answer, but on second watch it's right there....hiding in plain sight, that's GREAT WRITING, this film's writing is soooo LAZY and CHEAP as hell!!! Like in 'off piste' some of the irish accents are OTHER WORDLY, wtf, they're not N Irish, there not irish, they're not from planet earth, dude! are you from this planet??? lol 1:07:00 Why didn't the guy with the AWFUL accent just stab him with the samurai sword? 1:18:08 what? Why didn't the boss' son shoot the protagonist in the alleyway? 1:20:39 pregnant girl says "this isn't safe" you're after fighting with gangland criminals on a pier a few scenes ago by your choice, putting your unborn child in danger, you shouldn't be complaining! mother of god this film is incompetent! On a side note...why would he take the smallest samurai sword on the rack? Wouldn't you take the biggest???And wouldn't it be smarter to just get them all in the car and drive off to some remote village, withdraw some cash and stay off the grid for a few months, my god this plot/character is dumb. I get that he wants vengince but he has other people to think of, most of all his unborn grandchild!!! You know what, I have other things to say but, like this film, I can't be bothered.

Thats the only reason I watched this thing, If you can endure the first hour and a half of this tripe, I promise you'll be treated to an even more ridiculous ending to this mess. Good luck.

You have to watch this! One of the best gang movies ever! Emotional ending, unusual for this type of genre. Brilliant acting, especially by Matthew Jure.

Expected a lot from the movie. The story held on but the acting totally amateurish. The protagonist considering he was a boxer in his earlier life showed little courage in the face of diversity. The movie could have been a big hit had the producers had more money to produce this low low budget film.