Beautiful Boxer (2003)

Must See Movie...

Absolutely Brilliant!

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Beautiful movie. Beautiful actor. A testament to the power of the human spirit. I'm viewing it for the 2nd or 3rd time...and it still makes me cry! This movie should inspire struggling gay, lesbian, and transgender people all over the world. Thai boys (and girls!) are exceptionally beautiful, especially the young male beauty who entices Toom to throw the fight. I can see why American tourists flock to Bangkok...and why the HIV rate is so high in Thailand! I wish there had been at least one nude shot of Asanee. When I was fighting in Vietnam in 1969, most African-American soldiers I knew went to Bangkok for R & R, but I didn't because I did not know how a black "gay" soldier would be received...anywhere. So much for "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". I guess it would not have mattered because I, like all the other gay men in my Battalion, hid in the closet. Everyone knew. You just didn't talk about it in mixed company. (It would be many years later before I learned about the gay sex trade in Thailand.) BlackMates were always bragging about how Thai people treated them like kings...unlike super-racist Australia and Hawaii. (I guess American dollars helped, cause you know money talks!)Donde esta Asanee Suwan? I want to see more of this gifted young actor.

I had never heard of "Beautiful Boxer" when I started watching it, but what I saw blew me away. Portraying a Thai transvestite getting into boxing, you get a feeling of just how hard it must be to be a transvestite (especially in the macho sports world). And among other things, this is the sort of movie that will probably make you want to go to Thailand (the military coup and New Year's Eve bombings notwithstanding).Anyway, I certainly recommend this movie. It may shake you, mesmerize you, or otherwise, but it's sure to move you. See it if you can. And I would hope to see more Thai movies.I wonder whether it had the same title in Thai.

I had never heard of the movie before I watched it, but I thought it was very well done. This film shows the intense internal story of Toom, a transsexual as he grows up in a mostly unaccepting society. One of the more interesting things about the movie is that it unfolds against the beautiful but unfamiliar Thai setting. The movie does a great job of revealing the culture and the art of Thai boxing as Toom carefully tip toes his way through society, and merely tries to live the only life that he feels comfortable with. The directing, acting, and story telling were all spot on. The story is told well and the insight into the life of someone that extraordinary is well done. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this unique picture that not all producers would consider worth their time.

Beautiful Boxer a coming of age story about a man who wants to be female. In order to earn a living and save enough money, he starts to kick box on a dare at a temple festival. As time goes on, it shows how he is finally accepted by his group of friends who are also boxers. Yes, there were several missteps by his friends, but overall they accepted him for he is, and who they wanted him to be. It is refreshing to see a third gender represented in another culture, without the shame and stigma attached to it. In this culture we are so obsessed with being perfect and correct that we sometimes alienate ourselves from our friends and families.Jules