Punch

I am impressed by the allegory of fighting to get out, of your hometown, your surroundings, that which is known. Jordan Oosterhof who stirs the same feelings Matt Damon did 30 years ago fights to win and as a girlfriend says, he is a beast. Running nude on a beach, he encounters Colin Hayes, half Maori and all gay. Encountering a jellyfish, he renders first aid to our fallen hero. Things proceed between them as expected.

Antihero Tim Roth of Pulp Fiction fame is a dad who needs his son to win but as a drunk, he has limitations. Local gymowners want a piece of son Jim and a piece of Maori Waitu too so they conspire to coach Jim to win for them. Dad has an issue and tries to stand up for his son. He doesn't need to escape so he does. Maybe Waitu waiting? Maybe not? Freedom.

Jim (Jordan Oosterhof) has been trained by his father Stan Richardson (Tim Roth) since boyhood to be a boxer. The girls are all after him. He gets entangled with a gay Maori named Whetu (Conan Hayes).

I don't like Jim initially although one can claim that he's just being a guy. The annoying teenage boy has never been my favorite trope. Then he changes and that is an interesting journey. There are bumps in the road for the story and not all of it is good. He and his father surprise me. Tim Roth has limited screen time, but he shines whenever he's on. I do have some questions about the story and that keeps me from truly loving this.

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. 💞

A predictable story line once all the loose ends are tied up following an interesting start. Too bad about the script. The dialogue is very thin and a good editing is needed to condense elements of character in the two main protagonists right from the start. Photography excels, as does sound recording, but with New Zealand as a backdrop that is almost a given. For a relatively low budget film it feels quite professional. A red Pontiac convertible from the early 70's played a role. Was it intended?

I respect comments already made here by others who were puzzled by how a small town could host a major boxing match. The last third of the film resorted to this plot trope straight out of the 1950's. Finally, knowing the locale as I do, I had a hard time picturing Conan as a traditional Maori.

Three stars for Conan Hayes and occasionally Jordan Osterhof. Conan and his character pull this film from the unthinkable, unwatchable disaster it is.

Punch. The telltale name suggests you will get quite a literate intellectual and emotional punch delivered just to your door, with no delay.

Do the producers get off on the violence they bring on screen? How many more hate crimes do we have to depict in such meticulous snd thought-out detail, how many more scenes of despicable fights, misery and human atrocities do we have to stuff the cinematic legacy with? The blood gushing out, the bone breaking fist fights, the heinous rape with no warning, any other monstrosity that comes to mind? Rest assured, it's in this film.

I believe LGBTQ+ representation on film should be done cognizant of what came before, as well as how the content being produced influences the present what it insinuates. Upon watching "Punch" I can hardly imagine the idea behind the work, other than bringing some good-old hardcore violence, yet again making the queer people watching and everyone else involved feel awful. Why? And while the small-town homophobic gore plot has already been used in a million other productions, there is a way to depict such struggle (emotional and physical!) without imposing on the viewer the gut-wrenching scenery for most of the movie.

Living in such environments is extremely isolating and emotionally debilitating, which unfortunately is not nearly shown in "Punch". The sweet openly gay Maori student enjoys his life in a remote hut, frequently walking around the town not caring what other people think. He finds a friend in a macho competitive boxing highschooler. While the nature is breathtaking and there is great chemistry between the lead actors, the film is broken down by choppy and redundant cinematography.

I wish this movie showed an endearing love story of two young teens exploring the world in spite of the constraints of a close-minded reality, but it fails to connect the dots.