One boxer’s quest to return to the ring after a life threatening injury has him pushing the limits of his body. In “Bleed For This”, we get the incredible true story of one of the most inspiring and unlikely comebacks in sports history. Miles Teller stars as Vinny “The Pazmanian Devil” Pazienza, a local Providence boxer who shot to stardom after winning two world title fights in different divisions. After a near-fatal car accident leaves Vinny with a broken neck and his dream taken from him in one night, he is told he may never walk again. Against all odds and doctor’s orders, renowned trainer Kevin Rooney (Aaron Eckhart) agrees to help Vinny return to the ring just a year after the accident for what could be the last fight of his life. Vinny puts his all into training, avoiding the aches and pains of his situation to rise once again. “Bleed For This” is written and directed by Ben Younger, and is rated R for language, sexuality/nudity and some accident images.
The story of Pazienza is one certainly worthy of its Hollywood big screen adaptation, compelling audiences with a true story of courage and pain to get back the thing that you love most in this world. On that ideal alone, “Bleed For This” should’ve been a better movie overall, but it struggles during the second act that is riddled in storytelling issues, and fails to ever find its feet to get back up before the count of ten. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy “Bleed For This”, it’s just kind of a disappointment for how high my expectations were set with an all star cast and scintillating story that screams dramatic temperaments. Unfortunately, this movie serves as one missed opportunity after another, and the problems are all simple things that could’ve been fixed with more patience and effort to establish its characters and tones. There are some attempts to make this stand out amongst an overcrowded sports genre of films, but Younger never escapes the same cliches that give us trouble distinguishing one of these films from the other.
The cinematography is gorgeous, illustrating a faithful backdrop in television production visuals during the late 80’s and early 90’s. What I love about the lighting in this movie is the decision to kind of black everything else out besides the fighters, a decision that wonderfully sets the importance front-and-center where it needs to be. This kind of style and production certainly isn’t anything new with films like “Raging Bull” and “Rocky” capturing that style first, but what I love about what Younger does here is top it with some experimental camera work. The revolving style of art that plays out in front of us takes us inside and out of every punch, and is increased with every quick edit that has us feeling the brunt of all of the damage. I also loved some of the concepts with editing in this film, and the idea to inject actual television coverage of the fights that played out in real life. Because Pazienza and Teller bare a striking resemblance, there’s never much need to cover or touch up the grainy footage that puts us in the audience watching a fight play out in real time.
The first act of the movie is intriguing enough, but does something with its protagonist not usually seen in these underdog stories. Pazienza is a bit of an egotistical jerk, so it’s a credit to Teller who plays him faithfully with enough charisma that makes it impossible not to laugh with him. Teller’s on-screen transformation is certainly evident by the end of the film, and it pits the actor in the boxer’s mentality of difficulty training for his highest physical peak. The on-screen magic between Teller and Eckhardt tugs at the heartstrings a bit because we understand that each needs the other equally to make a bang in this sport again. Eckhardt was my favorite performance of the movie, even with what little time they actually take to understand his character. It is disappointing that the movie doesn’t view Pazienza and Rooney as equals in importance to the script, but Eckhardt is possibly the only positive influence in Vinny’s life, battling a troubling usage of alcoholism and regret for his best days being behind him. I feel like the movie owed Eckhardt to explore the troubles surrounding his drinking, but it’s just kind of swept under the rug with very little mention. With films like “Rocky”, we are given ample timing to meet and understand Mickey’s position because the fight is equally as important to him as it is to the title character. Here, Vinny’s story can often times be repetitive, so the opportunity to capitalize on Rooney’s painful disposition serves as one of the many opportunities that this movie flounders with very little care.
Some other problems that I had with the storytelling aspects were that of some scenes that feel like they are missing from what develops rapidly in front of our eyes. There’s a scene with about forty minutes left in the movie where Vinny brings a new love interest to dinner. This girl is never brought up once before this, nor is she mentioned ever again after it, and you have to wonder what was left on the cutting room floor that could serve great interest to the audience who are begging to express more empathy and encouragement for Vinny. This isn’t the only scene like it, just an example to not spoil much for you the reader. The film’s tone is always kind of depressing and dreary, so the opportunity to open up some optimism could’ve done wonders for the audience who were barely hanging on halfway through the movie. Another problem I had with the storytelling is the overall fight sequences in delivery. There’s some excellent sound editing used sparsely where the sound around the fighters is muted to focus on the hard-hitting of ring blows. I would’ve used this concept during the entirety of round twelve when it’s most important. It really is a cool effect that brings out the most in each devastating blow, but it’s kind of forgotten for fight choreography that feels a tad bit sloppy and rushed and begging to heighten the dramatic influx of a movie’s screenplay. Finally, the wounds from Vinny’s Halo neck brace disappear literally five minutes after they come out. No serious amount of time has passed during this time, it’s just another fine example of how sometimes Hollywood productions don’t pay the best kind of attention to continuity in wounds.
“Bleed For This” has enough here to put up a fight against the problems it suffers from mostly in directional aspects. During an era filled with much better boxing efforts, this one is sure to fall behind the crowd, but should be appreciated for its compelling transformative performances from its two male leads, as well as production design that details the darkness that surrounds the boxing world. The biggest pulled punch comes from this film’s decision to timely follow the same narrative patterns of other underdog stories in the genre. A decision that leaves this movie knocked out by round (or act) three.
6/10