Fighting (2009)

So much average

Really Surprised!

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I ended up watching this movie with my significant other, because we heard about it from a friend from our Monday Bible Study group. They recommended it because my wife Alex and I have struggled with a similar situation. I've admittedly been around the block when it comes to internet pornography, and at one point my marriage was on the brink because it got out of hand.SPOILERS AHEADThe movie starts showing a boxing scene and switches repeatedly throughout between a man struggling to not watch porn, and fighting a bald scary looking man labeled in the credits as "Demon", trying to show the two situations as similar fights that need to be overcome. The main character, Luke kisses his wife goodbye before trying to make a sandwich, but halfway through applying the mayo he looks at his computer with fear in his eyes knowing he can't possibly resist his natural urges. It goes back to the fight scene, which shows him losing pretty badly to Demon, who I assume is meant to represent the demon of pornographic lusts. Just as he types the word "pornography" into a google search bar, he gets a call from his wife who seems to know exactly what he is doing but Luke lies and says he is just doing household chores. This is a familiar scene to me, on account that more than once my wife has tried calling me when she's not home to check in, only to find me out of breath and acting suspicious. Luke was able to resist his urges for about fifteen minutes as he took out the trash and did some other chores, but eventually gives in and you see a grown 40-50 year old man weeping at his computer screen for being unable to not watch porn. I don't know about most people, but I find it hard to be aroused when crying. At this point in the boxing ring, he is down and almost out and his coach is criticizing him for not going to the gym anymore. This is complimented by a flashback to he and his wife in bed while she asks why he no longer reads his bible or goes to Bible Study. Eventually the movie resolves by him smashing his computer in the driveway as his wife comes home crying and hugging him out of happiness for overcoming his addiction. He wins the fight against Demon and the crowd is congratulatory. There is an outer monologue about how every man has to fight this fight everyday, the good fight for being a better person and resisting your inner nature.Now, as for my personal thoughts on this movie as someone who has struggled with internet pornography, I found it nice to see some representation for a problem that me and several of my friends have dealt with and are dealing with. In today's day and age it's almost impossible not to see a naked woman on every corner, be it in McDonald's advertisements or on Facebook on your phone. When there is an entire database at your fingertips of all the sinful images and videos your heart could desire, it's almost impossible to resist and stay true to what you know is right. That being said, I wasn't a fan of how the movie portrayed porn addicts. Not every person struggling is a 40 year old man crying at his computer, and the way he dealt with it wasn't through prayer or seeking community help, but rather through smashing his computer. This is hardly a solution in today's world where a computer is necessary for work or family. If there is one thing I would change about this movie, it would be the ending. The analogy to a boxing match seemed fitting enough, because it does seem like your inner demons are beating you constantly and sometimes it's impossible to get back in the ring and tackle them again and again, but truly deep down you know it is the right thing to do.

This gritty urban drama has Channing Tatum -doing a decent job as small-town boy Shawn MacArthur, trying and for the most part failing to make it in New York City. Barely earning a living selling counterfeit goods on the streets, his luck changes when he meets scam artist/fight promoter Harvey Boarden (Terrence Howard) who introduces him to the violent underground world of bare knuckle boxing.The two form an uneasy partnership and almost overnight Shawn becomes a star brawler on the circuit, culminating with his big show down against (ironically) a guy from his home town who was his high-school rival.All in this is fairly predictable, the dialogue is quite mumble-ie at times, there's a nice enough romance although without much heat, the fight scenes are decent especially the final match, and there's a couple of plot twists but nothing too OMG.For the majority of the film we barely know anything about the characters and I found them all a bit vague. Tatum's past is hinted at (daddy issues) but by the time that comes to comes light I didn't much care. I like Terrence Howard but he seemed to struggle here, his character again vague and with a strange accent. I did enjoy their scenes together though, they played well off each other.The director also failed to make it seem like any time was passing, Channing appeared to have all of his (increasingly well paid fights) within the span of a about a week and never did any sort of training but kept improving. I just kept thinking I'm glad this isn't my life, everyone hustling to make a dollar. 3/2/16

This is probably one of the worst films I have ever seen. First off, the story-line is predictable and not very well written and thought about. But the acting is horrendous. Channing Tatum struggles with his words and mumbles throughout the whole film. It's embarrassing just to watch how hard he struggles to act and often times pauses and says something different than what he was supposed to. The way Tatum's character and his girlfriend in the movie talk is very unbelievable and unconvincing of a real relationship. The acting is worse than a poorly-written school play. The only reason I would give it a 3 stars instead of 1/10 is because it had some adequate fighting scenes. Would not recommend any soul to watch this utter filth of a movie.

It took Hollywood awhile to dust off the old fighting genre. Here we have 'Fighting", more or less an updated version of Van Damme's Lionheart thankfully with a little more realistically choreographed fighting. There's a few details and character development which has some thought worked into it, but unfortunately it doesn't make up for horribly clichéd romance and painful associated dialog to follow. Terrence Howard does the best he can with his hustler character, but there's not much of interest going on. The fight scenes are better than a lot other movies, but they cant carry the movie alone. The "thugs" and investors are cookie-cutter. There are worse movies out there, but this certainly isn't a good movie anyway you cut it.