Among the more notable Academy Award nominated performances in boxing movies you'll find Denzel Washington in The Hurricane, Will Smith in Ali, and heck, even Sylvester Stallone was nominated for his performance in Rocky. Among the eventual Oscar winners you'll find Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman(as boxer and gym manager respectively) in Million Dollar Baby, Christian Bale and Melissa Leo(as trainer and manager respectively) in The Fighter, and in what is one of the greatest screen performances I've ever seen, Robert DeNiro in Raging Bull.
The next contenders vying for the title of Academy Award Nominee and/or eventual Winner include Edgar Ramirez and DeNiro in the Roberto Duran biopic Hands of Stone, Miles Teller in the Scorsese-produced Vinny Pazienza biopic Bleed for This, and Michael B. Jordan in the Rocky spinoff Creed. Speaking of Rocky, it is one of two films on the list to earn the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship of Oscars, Best Picture. Yes, somehow Ordinary People still appears as the Best Picture winner of 1980 in the official Oscar records ahead of Scorsese's Masterpiece, Raging Bull. But hey, at least it got nominated for Best Picture, something that 4 films on my list accomplished.
This next wave of boxing movies certainly looks promising, featuring some prominent A-List talent behind the camera, and some of Hollywood's best young actors in front of it. My hope is that in a year that already gave us the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight that didn't quite live up to expectations(thanks Pac-Man), these 4 films will not disappoint and will help to reinvigorate the sport of boxing and its fanbase. Just like in these movies, the sport currently features a lot of exciting young talent, and when two of these world-class athletes square off in the ring you're most certainly going to get more action, drama, and excitement than you'll find in many of the movies that are produced in Hollywood nowadays.
Like I mentioned at the start, the studios in Hollywood know that when they're in a creative rut they can always mine the sport of boxing for compelling stories(real or fictional) that will bring out the best from the filmmakers involved and, more importantly for the studios, will get people to come to the theaters. My list of the Top 10 Boxing Movies perfectly exemplifies this. So let's get on with it shall we? Starting with ...
10) Fat City (1972) (dir. John Huston)
Showcasing the less glamorous side of boxing, this movie stars Stacy Keach(American History X, Prison Break, all those CNBC voiceovers) as a past-his-prime boxer who gets back in the ring after spotting a young kid in the gym with no experience but lots of potential(a young Jeff Bridges). This isn't your typical rags to riches Hollywood story. These guys struggle to get by throughout the movie and end pretty much right where they started, broke and with no place to go.
9) Tyson (2008) (dir. James Toback)
Speaking of being broke at the end of a boxing career ...
This documentary is a career retrospective, by way of one on one interview, of the youngest Heavyweight Champion ever, "Iron" Mike Tyson. Tyson speaks candidly about his entire life, starting with his rough upbringing in Brooklyn, then meeting Cus D'Amato who would turn him into an unstoppable force in the ring, followed by his downfall after D'Amato's death which lead to serving a prison sentence for a rape charge he denies, continuing with the infamous ear biting incident for which he blames Evander Holyfield's constant headbutts, and ending with his present day family life. It's a very interesting look into the mind of one of the most fascinating fighters/characters in boxing history.
8) Million Dollar Baby (2004) (dir. Clint Eastwood)
The first Oscar winner on the list. This film won 4 Oscars, including the 2nd Best Director Oscar in Clint Eastwood's career, the 2nd Best Actress Oscar for Hilary Swank, a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Morgan Freeman(his first), and the big one, the Oscar for Best Picture. It's the story of 31 year old waitress Maggie Fitzgerald(Swank), who all of a sudden decides she wants to be a boxer. She walks into Frankie Dunn's(Eastwood) gym to learn how to box but he insists he doesn't train girls. With some convincing from his friend and gym partner, former boxer Eddie "Scrap-Iron" Dupris(Freeman), Frankie trains Maggie and is surprised how quickly she learns and how good she becomes. I could've placed this movie higher on the list if it weren't for that twist in the final act which changes the description I just gave of the movie completely.
7) The Set-Up (1949) (dir. Robert Wise)
A short movie that lasts 1 hour and 13 minutes in both movie time and real time. It may be short but it packs a lot of intrigue as an over-the-hill boxer named Bill "Stoker" Thompson is looking to make one final statement in the ring with an upset victory unaware that his trainer has already taken money from a gambler assuring him that his fighter will take a dive in the 2nd round. Aside from the plot, the other thing that makes the movie great is the attention to detail shown with the boxing aspect. From the boxers waiting in the locker room for their fight to come up, then returning to the locker room beaten and bloodied after the fight, to the feel of the crowd before, during, and after the fights, and finally to the realistic action in the ring which Scorsese said was one of the best he saw prepping for Raging Bull, this film gets boxing absolutely right.
6) Cinderella Man (2005) (dir. Ron Howard)
The true life story of James J. Braddock(Russell Crowe), who makes a comeback in the Heavyweight Division after falling on hard times during The Great Depression. He was given the nickname "Cinderella Man" because he was a huge underdog in every one of the fights he won leading to his shot at the Heavyweight Title against Max Baer. The movie tanked at the Box Office, but it wasn't the cast's fault, as Crowe gives one of his best performances and Reneé Zellweger as his wife and Paul Giamatti as his manager/trainer are great as well. Maybe if it was released a couple of years later after the Wall Street crash of 2008 the movie would've resonated better with audiences. Still, it's a must watch for any boxing fan.
5) Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) (dir. Robert Wise)
Paul Newman plays Rocky Graziano in this biopic of the former Middleweight Champion from Brooklyn NY. Those first two words should be enough for you to want to watch this movie. This was Newman's breakout role, replacing James Dean after his death, and the rest is history. His natural charisma is perfect for this role, as Graziano was a troublemaker who found boxing as a way to hide from the army and the police. It just so happened that Graziano was one of the strongest punchers in boxing history and once he got serious inside the ring he went all the way to the top. The movie won 2 Oscars for its Black & White Cinematography and its Art Direction/Set Decoration.
4) Rocky (1976) (dir. John G. Avildsen)
From one Rocky to another ...
Without a doubt, this is the most famous boxing movie of All-Time, spawning a franchise that is 40 years old now and possibly might never die. But this isn't about the franchise, it's about the original, a story about a small-time boxer from Philadelphia, Rocky Balboa(Sylvester Stallone), who gets a once in a lifetime opportunity to fight Apollo Creed(Carl Weathers) for the Heavyweight Championship of the world on America's bicentennial anniversary. I gotta be honest, I can't stand any of the Rocky sequels. Each one got less believable than the one before and the action in the ring doesn't look anything like boxing. The first one suffers a bit from the same in-ring flaws(causing to not be ranked higher on my list), but overall I give it a pass because it is such a good movie. The 10 Oscar nominations speak for themselves, although it should've never been named Best Picture ahead of Taxi Driver and Network. That being said, the movie is full of memorable moments("Yo, Adrian", "Gonna Fly Now", etc) that have helped it age just as well as those other classics.
3) The Fighter (2010) (dir. David O. Russell)
The true story of "Irish" Micky Ward(Mark Wahlberg) and his dysfunctional family in Lowell, Massachusetts which includes his brother/trainer Dicky Ecklund(Christian Bale) who is struggling with a crack addiction, his mother/manager Alice(Melissa Leo), and his new girlfriend Charlene(Amy Adams). After Dicky ends up in prison, Micky recommits to his career with a new team and slowly starts climbing the ladder on the way to a title shot. After Dicky leaves prison sobered up, he rejoins Micky as head trainer just in time to help him win a title. The main cast is stellar in this one, with Christian Bale stealing the show as Dicky, winning an Oscar in the process. Melissa Leo also won an Oscar for her performance. In fact, the only one to not get nominated for an Oscar out of the 4 leads was the one playing the boxer, Mark Wahlberg. I also love how the fights are presented as if you were watching a live HBO telecast, complete with commentary from Jim Lampley, Roy Jones, and Larry Merchant.
2) When We Were Kings (1996) (dir. Leon Gast)
A documentary of the events leading up to the "Rumble in the Jungle" that was over 20 years in the making. The reason this movie is so high in my rankings is simple: Muhammad Ali. Ali lights up the screen throughout with every interview, or training session, or when he arrives in Zaire, all of it leading up to the moment he shocked the world once again and knocked out George Foreman to regain the Heavyweight Championship. Every eccentric athlete that you see today is just trying to be Ali, but there will never be anybody quite like him. He is truly The Greatest. And seeing as he is The Greatest, of course this film had to win the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.
1) Raging Bull (1980) (dir. Martin Scorsese)
Scorsese's Masterpiece! This was an easy choice. All of the other movies on this list are good, but none of them are in the same weight class as Raging Bull. This is one of the 10 greatest movies I've ever seen. DeNiro's performance as Jake LaMotta is in the discussion for Greatest Performance of All-Time. The supporting performances by Joe Pesci as brother Joey and Cathy Moriarty as wife Vicky are both terrific, and both were also Oscar nominees. The black & white cinematography is perfection, same thing with the editing(the film's only other Oscar win), particularly in the in-ring sequences. I mean, there really is nothing wrong with this film. I just watched it again last night and it got even better. If for some reason you haven't watched it yet, do so immediately. To put it in boxing terms, Raging Bull is the undisputed pound-for-pound king of the boxing movie genre.
No comments:
Post a Comment