Special Coverage 2008 Fall Movie PreviewThe Must List2008 Fall TV PreviewSound Bites
  • --
The Boxer | video_rev
ON THE ROPES In the ring and out, Day-Lewis battles it out in Belfast

Credits

Rated: R; Genre: Drama; With: Daniel Day-Lewis and Emily Watson
--
By Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Ty Burr is a writer at large for EW and is no relation to Raymond or Aaron
It’s amazing what a bunch of really fine actors with Irish accents can do with a middling script. Director and cowriter Jim Sheridan, whose previous collaborations with Day-Lewis -- "My Left Foot" and "In the Name of the Father" -- brought both men acclaim and awards, here settles into gratifying but shallow melodrama. The star plays a once-promising pugilist who returns to his squalid Belfast neighborhood after 14 years in prison, only to find the local IRA faction splitting apart with the promise of peace. The scenes with his once and future sweetie, played by Breaking the Waves’ Watson, are lovely, but we’ve seen a lot of the supporting characters before—the alky fight manager, the troubled but redeemable kid, the bigoted villain. Scrape away the art-house allure and, for better and for worse, this is "Rocky VI: The Troubles."

Posted Jul 16, 1998
 

Add Your Comments

The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. You must have javascript enabled to submit a comment.
--
Change/Edit your grade
characters remaining