Punch

My first problem was the enormous difficulty I had in believing for even a nanosecond that Conan Hayes playing Whetu was a Maori. The second was imagining that twenty six year old Jordan Oosterhof as Jim Richardson was a seventeen year old boxer. Yes, he was fit and did a good impression of punching to a lay person like me but his pretty face, with its unbroken nose, was completely unconvincing.

The other unconvincing thing was the burgeoning friendship between Whetu and Jim. That Jim put his arm round Whetu in front of small-minded townsfolk just didn't compute. Even more so when this gave Ron leverage over him.

Tim Roth as Dad gave a good performance but what else what would we have expected?

The cast tried their best with a mediocre script that just didn't gel with the supposed characters of the players. Lyrical outbursts were just not appropriate to the personalities of the situation of a small hick town.

As the film rushed to its conclusion, few loose ends were resolved. Arson, betting, breach of contract, imminent death, relationships. Everything was left in the air. While we were wondering about this, the film ended with the performance of a song of such cloying sentimentality that I nearly gagged.

So, there were a few good moments but most of the film was incoherent. I cannot really recommend it.

Punch certainly felt polished and pretty well developed. The cinematography and ambience worked for the film - it was actually quite beautiful.

What stops this film from being successful in my eyes was a slightly confused narrative alongside a dubious script. Without going into details, much of the characters' dialogue really feels like it needed a rewrite - it was awkward and a bit jarring in many parts and the actors struggled to make it believable.

Some characters and plot points felt undeveloped, and that might be due to the fact that the central story (the boxing match) altogether wasn't strong or compelling enough to carry the weight of the film all by itself.

All in all it was still a wonderful film and I would definitely encourage others to watch.

I found the acting and most of the storyline to be very well done, in comparison to what I've seen so far and I've seen many going way back over the years at least this was 80% of the time was entertaining. Definitely a little homophobic a little cheesy. Don't hold your breath for a fairytale ending but everything they promised will come true. You will notice movies bring you in the first 15 minutes or less. Pull up a chair sit back relax get yourself some popcorn. It's a cute little coming-of-age gay Romance movie two boys against the world, love finding its way with boys finding each other. 💞

In a seaside small town, 17-year-old Jim is an aspiring boxer, training for his 1st professional bout. HIs coach is his father Stan, whose boxing gym has only Jim as its client, his day job is disapppearing, and (unknown to Jim) is dying of cancer. Mostly Jim sees his father as a repeated drunk, and he gets enticed to switch coaches.

Jim is also distracted by his girlfriend, who keeps wanting more of his time. But in his training runs, he meets becomes mates with Whetu, a Maori living on his own in a shack. Openly gay, Whetu is bullied, harassed, and worse, and wants to leave town immediately upon finishing school. While Jim spends a lot of time with Whelan, Jim can't stand up for, or defend him. As Jim prepares for his fight, he has to navigate his feelings towards his father, his girlfriend, and his new mate.

The scenery is nice, and the lead role is well acted. Also, as Whelan complains, the "straight boy" keeps going around shirtless, showing off his tempting body. There may be a bit too many training scenes, at the expense of more character development. Still, a decent gay coming-of-age story.

I was expecting more strangeness from Welby Ings, whose short "Boy" (2004) was engagingly creepy. This is more conventional and grim, with homophobic violence and the poetic slow-mo gore of desperate boxing.

It's a little predictable. The town of Pirau (meaning "rotten") is hypocritically homophobic. The butchest characters turn out to be the queerest. Jim (engaging Jordan Oosterhof) is ill-at-ease from beginning to end with the role of boxer that his father (obviously wanting his son to be what he couldn't) pushes him into - shades of "Tea and Sympathy" (1956) - and the central issue of him finding his sexuality is familiar. What happens to Whetu (Conan Hayes), a young Maori femme on the way to spread his, um, wings in Sydney, comes as little surprise. There are some surprises and subtlety, though. In a single gesture and a few seconds of action, our view of Whetu's role changes 180 degrees - or perhaps that should be basement to penthouse.

As usual in Aotearoa, the scenery threatens to steal the show, in this case the dunes of, probably, southern Kaipara, generally filmed in a gloomy afternoon light. The sex is poetic and inexplicit, fitting well into the storyline.

A couple of things strain credulity, high tech video gear in a remote shack far from the grid, and a high school boxer being set up in a high-stakes bout when he's so far never been seen in a ring with an opponent. But the ending is feel-good, if not what you might expect.