Jawbone

To those who know the struggle, the story of this fight is as plain as a boxing glove smacking the nose on your face. It is most definitely not a boxing story, but boxing is a main character.

If you're expecting Rocky, toss those expectations in the bin. This is a film that has bathed itself in the grittiness often found in British cinema, then dressed in a suit of P10 sandpaper.

Although the plot is hardly a revalation, it is beautifully written and directed. Despite having big names like McShane and Winston, it is Johnny Harris who knocks it out of the park with an engaging and real performance.

Not for those after an easy watch, or balls to the wall action.

Take everything you thought you knew about boxing movies ... and forget it.

Instead of a movie about someone looking to break into the sport, here is a movie about someone looking to break into Life, having wasted most of theirs. And boxing is all he knows.

It is a testament to the skill of the writer and director that, by the time the big fight arrives, you the audience don't have a clue how it will turn out. That by itself is an accomplishment.

Speaking of accomplishments, Harris hands us one of the most amazing performances I have ever seen. To re-use a tired cliché, he literally delivers most of his dialog in this film with his eyes.

And Winstone may possibly have delivered one of the most subtle and nuanced performances of his career, and makes max use of every second of screen time.

You could possibly say it is a modern update of Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962). Or you could simply call it what it is -- an extraordinary movie.

Recommended? Hell, yes.

((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

A former boxer with promise returns to his old stomping ground on the mean streets of London hoping for one last chance of success

Stop me if you've heard this one before but .... what you stopped me as soon as I came to this page? Fair enough. JAWBONE is a traditional type of gritty drama of a washed out boxer trying to get his life back on track. If you're expecting the big budget feel good Hollywood factor try somewhere else because this is a gloomy British movie

Actually this is maybe a little bit too gloomy. It's got that British independent feel. It's well made where the social realism shines through but it's not a film where you walk out of the cinema clicking your heels. On top of that unlike a lot of boxing films you've seen from ROCKY to RAGING BULL director Thomas Napper ensures that if you're hit with a high velocity fist then it will hurt and cut you

One minor complaint is that some people be fooled in to watching a film starring Winstone and McShane and there can't be a single movie in Britain who doesn't love these two legends but the reality is their parts are minor with McShane literally appearing in one walk on scene . Instead it's Johnny Harris as boxer Jimmy and Michael Smiley who carry the film. Smiley in particular is very good but the story is one you've seen before

That's certainly a true UK movie, far, far, far better than the US crap, such as ROCKY series and other SOUTHPAW with happy ending for sissies. This is TRUE life, true f... life. If you are depressed, ready to commit suicide, avoid this so beautiful but AUTHENTIC story about a world in which you are about to be crashed, poisoned, cheated and smashed if you are not lucky and strong enough to survive. Acting, directing, editing are superb. A so moving tale about a garbage world where only the strongest can make it in the end. Struggle, struggle and struggle again, that's the name of the game. Ken Loach could have made it. The social agency scene in the beginning reminded me I DANIEL BAKE. Such a shame that this beautiful little movie won't be released in France. Maybe in DVD only. A real must see.