Girlfight Directed by: Karyn Kusama Dave's Rating: B+ There should be at least a mandatory $500 fine for anyone who does Rocky Balboa imitations. Rocky is a great film, so my belief is don't ruin it. It's hard enough finding good sport films. The first mistake is usually too much grit, and not enough guts. Hoosiers is a great sports film, Blue Chips is not even a good film. Any Given Sunday is a decent football film, The Replacements is a like watching little league in a sleet storm. Boxing films, besides the Rocky cinematic museum, are hard to come by in recent years. The Hurricane was more of a character study than a boxing film, and the latest journey into the world of boxing, Girlfight, is nice enough to provide the best boxing/character study film since the original Rocky. Girlfight breaks down the ancient myth that boys play sports, girls plays with dolls. If you gave a doll to Diana (Michelle Rodriguez) in Girlfight, she would most likely shove it down your throat. Diana is a high school girl with a a "tick..tick..boom" personality. She likes to fight people she despises, or just punch people in the face if their actions disagree with her. Diana has a lot to be worked up about. Her home life consists of a dead-beat dad who offers foolish advice and a brother who is a wimp, but a nice kid. The memories of her dead mother for all three of them might as well be dark paintings covering the walls. She lives in the ghetto of a large city, and sitting down for an evening dinner Diana is surrounded by police sirens and sounds of screaming and loud music. Diana seems used to the chaos on the outside, but inside she is ready to explode. Her wimpy brother Tiny takes boxing lessons, even though he would rather be drawing or being a "geek." One day she stops by the boxing gym to give Tiny some money, and she sees another boxer cheap shot him in the ring. Tiny doesn't do anything about it, so Diana gives the cocky boxer some advice with a knuckle sandwich. The trainers and other boxes like what the see, and Diana starts training with a old boxer turned trainer named Hector even though she has to steal the money to pay for the lessons. The rest of the film traces Diana's rise to becoming a competitive boxer, and her attempts to control her inner emotions. She's a girl that has a lot to be pissed off about, but finds the ultimate filter in the ring. Diane evolves so much in the film in terms of molding her body, as well as her mind. Michelle Rodriguez plays Diane in a very humanistic fashion. She never once overplays the girls vs. boys mentality of the male boxers she has to fight. Diane even finds herself attracted to one of the boxers, and Rodriguez is quite effective in letting this hard nut of a character slowly peel off her tough skin to reveal a girl in need of support. Diane becomes compassionate, while at the same time never changing her frame of mind towards surviving. She's a woman in a very chauvinistic sport and neighborhood, and she has to overcome twice the obstacles the male boxers do. She never once doubts herself. The director Karyn Kusama takes her time in telling this story. There's not the big lights and glamour that so many of the Rocky films became. Kusama makes Diana a hero on a very small level. It's more of a personal satisfaction for Diane seeing herself win at a very amateur boxing level than becoming a champion boxer. The film ends on a note that she might go on to great things, and watching Girlfight the viewer can't but hope she does.
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