The Cut

So, the day Bloom retired from boxing after losing a high-profile bout, he had his young wife as his coach instead of an experienced person on the ringside. Okay, girl power, yay! 10 years later, during a meeting with one of the promoters in a restaurant, that guy insults Bloom's wife and Bloom says, "mind your manners", to which she retorts, "So you're fighting my fights for me now?" This isn't the only movie to have come out recently that shows an actress with a snarky attitude for no good reason, and they demand respect in every aspect of their lives, no matter how badly they treat others.

I don't care anymore how good the plot or the cinematography is, or even the acting for that matter. If these soul-sucking maggots are pushing their agenda through subtle measures, I'm not going to waste my time sitting in front of the screen swallowing whatever they're showing in the name of "entertainment".

Orlando Bloom laid it all out there in the ring on this one. This movie takes a bit to get going, but once it does, it's really good! Sean Ellis delivers an excellent commentary on the extremes that pro athletes have to put themselves thru in order to make "the cut." This message would have hit with any sport, but the choice to make it a boxing I feel allowed for a better story arch. Bloom and Turturro delivered awesome performances, but my favorite aspect to this movie was the way that it was shot. The visuals present to the viewer a lot of closeups with blurry backgrounds and POV shots with confusing filters. This allows us as the audience to put ourselves in the main characters shoes. It drives the message home and world a beautifully.

The Cut attempts to stand out within the boxing genre, but the result feels more bizarre and exaggerated than genuinely fresh. Its excessive focus on unpleasant physical details overshadows any deeper dramatic exploration. While the performances and raw atmosphere have a certain authenticity, the clichés and overstatements prevent the film from achieving true depth. In the end, the director's courage to experiment is noteworthy, yet the outcome remains shallow and predictable. Rather than a successful reinvention, it comes across as a failed experiment.

The Cut is the slick new boxing drama by British director Sean Ellis. Except it's not really about boxing.

Orlando Bloom gives a great physical performance as an unnamed boxer who is thrust back into competition 10 years after a knockout blow ended his career. The problem is he has to lose 30lbs in a week.

The movie is propulsive and no scene ever outstays its welcome, with tense moments as Bloom races against the clock and fights both his body and mind to meet the deadline. As the deadline nears he becomes ever more desperate to make the cut and the Bloom begins to lose his grip on reality.

Bloom and John Turturro, his lose-fat-quick trainer, are both exceptional and whilst Oscar nominations might be out of this movies reach, could definitely get the nod for Baftas.

Also worth a shout for a nomination is criminally underrated director Sean Ellis, who I've been a fan of since I came across Metro Manila. Some of the reviews for this movie have been quite negative about the filmmaking but I thought it was once again excellent. His style is simple yet kinetic, effortlessly rachetting up tension and leaving the audience with some questions that allow us to think deeper about the themes.

The Cut is presented as a movie about boxing, but it's really about how far you'll go to achieve a goal, and whether you can muster the mental strength to achieve it. The title itself can refer to many different types of cut, and the movie itself pulls on many different strands.

7/10.

We begin by watching the boxer - who has no name so let's call him "Clint" - bottling a fight that could have led him to fame and glory. Instead, a decade later he is working in a small gym for his girlfriend "Caitlin" (Caitriona Balfe) and putting up with some dogs abuse from the local thuggery. Then, out of the blue, he gets a call from renowned matchmaker "Donny" (Gary Beadle) offering him a shot at a title. She is reluctant but appreciates that he really needs to exorcise some of his long-held demons so off they go to Vegas and the weigh-in. Suffice to say that at least I can blame the cheesecake but he has no excuse for being about 20kg overweight, so he is going have to undergo a training ordeal from hell if he is to make it to the ring at all! That is what this film is about, and boy does Bloom take method acting to a whole new level. He quite literally sweats and bleeds the part as he strives to lose the pounds. Swiftly, it becomes obvious to "Donny" that even this isn't enough, so he drafts in "Boz" (John Turtutto) who brings with him a new regime and some tempting short-cuts that might just be on the wrong side of the rules. As "Clint" becomes more and more exhausted, desperate and now estranged from "Caitlin" he begins to live his life in a daze during which we are filled-in on elements of his past with his single mother (Clare Dunne) who made her living with her own rather hands-on style of entertaining the troops in Northern Ireland. With these traumas bubbling under to complement the physical torture his body is facing, is there any chance he can get the scales to let him fight? Even if he can, what state will he be in? This is so very far removed from anything Bloom has done before and his efforts reek of authenticity as we progress. Sadly, though, the story doesn't really develop. The characterisations are really disappointingly undercooked and though what we are left with is powerfully excruciating at times to watch, it is all just a bit shallow. Torturro reminded me a little of JK Simmons in "Whiplash" (2014) only here this mentoring role is compromised a little too often by the unexplained entry of "Lupe" (Mohammed Mansaray) whose role imposes itself almost as if he is a figment of our boxer's increasingly fragile imagination. As a performance from a star this will take some beating come awards season, but as a narrative it is woefully under-cooked.