Weightwatchers Extreme

The Cut is a boxing movie with (apart from a brief opening sequence) no boxing in it. Instead it focuses on the equally brutal, but less visibly part of the sport, weight loss, as a former contender spirals into madness while trying to shed an insane amount of heft in order to secure a last minute return to the big time.

Orlando Bloom is a boxer (he is never named during the film) who lost his one title shot and now runs a gym with his partner and trainer Caitlin (Catriona Balfe). He retains a reputation for being an exciting knockout specialist so when a title contender dies weeks before an upcoming Las Vegas showdown, scary promoter Donny (Gary Beadle) offers him the chance of a glamorous comeback. The catch? He needs to shed thirty two pounds (over two stone or fourteen kilos) in a week. Caitlin agrees to him giving it a go provided they do things by the book, but when traditional methods fail, John Turturro's Boz enters the equation and pushes Bloom way beyond the bounds of what is legal or ethical.

Everything starts off very formulaically. Bloom's boxer is your stereotypical has been fighter, disrespected by the up-and-comers in his gym and carrying out his daily tasks with a miserable monotony while dreaming of what could have been. When he is given an opportunity to get back in the game he gives his concerned partner the standard spiel about a piece of him being missing and how he can't move on with life when he has unfinished pugilistic business. They decamp to a Vegas hotel and begin the impossible weight loss journey with a couple of good-intentioned coaches. So far, so serviceable, but everything kicks into gear when Turturro gets involved. He is a force of nature, a single minded wrecking ball who couldn't care less about the boxer's well-being and sets about separating him from everyone who does in order to laser focus in on shedding the necessary pounds. Turturro plays the part with such focused menace there are times you think Boz may actually be The Devil.

From here on in the film becomes a battle of wills between Boz and Caitlin and between the boxer and himself. As the effects of starvation, dehydration, blood loss and pills mount up we are essentially in psychological horror territory and its a tough watch. Tough to watch the people who are trying to protect the boxer slowly whittle away and be replaced by people who'd rather watch him die than miss the target weight, and tough to watch the physical devastation heaped upon him. You can feel your own skin shrivel up as every molecule of moisture is squeezed out of his muscled frame and immersive camerawork from director Sean Ellis sells the woozy lightheadedness of man so malnourished he is losing all sense of place and self. The journey is underpinned by a performance of complete commitment from Bloom, who underwent his own period of intense weight loss prior to filming, leaving him suffering some of the effects he portrays on screen for real.

There are a couple of things in the film which aren't on the level of the central psychological battle. Throughout the runtime we are shown glimpses of the boxer's childhood in troubles era Northern Ireland, and, without going into specifics, its a backstory so bleak it verges on parody. While this is meant to inform the reasons for the main characters single-mindedness, it also acts as a get-out-of-jail free card for Boz's insane shredding techniques and the dangerous nature of extreme weight loss in general. If past trauma is partly responsible for the boxer's struggles during the process, does that mean it is OK for other people? The script also struggles to wrap things up cleanly, passing a couple of satisfactory endpoints by on its way to possibly giving a little too much resolution. In terms of small details, it's a little frustrating to watch the team agonise over every fraction of a pound but not bother to shave all their man's hair completely off.

The fairly by numbers opening and flabby ending don't detract from the strength of the film when it's in full flight, where powerhouse performance from Bloom and Turturro give you a glimpse of a level of self inflicted misery only the most committed can put themselves through. It deserves respect for providing a unique look at a sport that has been cinematically examined so many times before.

7 vending machine treats instantly thrown back up out of 10.

Comments

Predator Chadlands

After revitalising the Predator franchise with 2022's Prey, director Dan Trachtenberg brings us a very different take on the extraterrestrial big game hunter. In Predator: Badlands , the titular monster is the main character. Considering how terrible that premise could have been, we actually end up with a decent action adventure movie. Our protagonist is Dek, a Yautja (the species name of the Predators) who is considered something of a runt. Such a runt in fact, that his dad wants to kill him for being a pitiful disgrace to the clan. After his brother saves him, he makes his way to "the Death Planet" Genna to hunt a supposedly unkillable monster in order to show his father who is boss and force the rest of the clan to put some respect on his name. When he gets there he discovers that, not only is all the wildlife deadly, but Weyland-Yutani ( yes, the evil corporation from Alien) have sent a bunch of synths there to collect and weaponise his prospective trophy. He forms an...

Really Kinky Boots

Pillion has been described by one of its stars, Alexander Skarsgård, as a dom-com. What he means by that is that this motorcycle romance ticks plenty of rom-com boxes while sporting a heavy coat of BDSM and graphic sex scenes. This description actually sells the film a little bit short. Harry Melling plays Colin, an openly gay but quiet and reserved young man who lives at home with his father and terminally ill mother, Peggy. After singing in a Christmas barbershop quartet, Harry is spotted by enigmatic and unfeasibly handsome biker Ray (Skarsgard), who identifies him as someone with subservient tendencies. After a Christmas Day hook-up in a high street alleyway, Ray gives Colin the cold shoulder for months before taking him back to his house. Upon arrival, Colin discovers where his place in the household is, somewhere lower than the dog and slightly above the mud off Ray's shoe. He is tasked with completing all the daily chores, as well as anything else his master deems needing d...

Now You Three Me

Now You See Me: Now You Don't is the somewhat surprising third instalment in the Now You See Me franchise. Surprising in that it has been nine years since the last film and it had looked like the magicians had played their last trick. The film itself is about as unsurprising as it gets, playing out exactly as you expect a pseudo-legacy sequel to play out, hitting many of the familiar beats while introducing a new group of characters to carry the torch when the original cast bow out. The Now You See Me films revolve around stage magicians The Four Horsemen using their unique skills to pull off altruistic thefts that stick it to bad corporations and individuals and redistribute the wealth either to the people said evil entity has wronged, or simply to the fans in attendance. Said Four Horsemen are; illusionist J. Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), mentalist Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), sleight of hand specialist Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) and either Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) or Lula M...

Econ Air

Single location thriller Flight Risk is the latest film to suffer from an "over eager" trailer. That is to say, the trailer covers pretty much everything that happens in the movie, more or less in the exact order it occurs. On the plus side, it isn't a film that was ever going to keep any secrets so it doesn't suffer as much as some others have. FBI agent Madelyn Harris (Michelle Dockery) takes a flight with informant Winston (Topher Grace) but a short way into their journey they discover the pilot, played by Mark Wahlberg, is actually a mob hitman there to end them both before Winston can squeal. There is a brief opening at an Alaskan cabin and the finale is on a runway, but for the most part it's just the three of them in the cabin of a small plane. Events unfold almost like a theatrical play as the three talk and argue with intermittent attempts at murder. The main thing to know about Flight Risk is that it is ridiculous. The decisions the characters make a...

It Sure Does

Love Hurts is Ke Huy Quan's first ever lead role. After decades out the game and struggling to keep his insurance prior to his Oscar winning turn in "Everything Everywhere, All At Once", you can hardly blame him for taking the chance to front a movie. Unfortunately, in Jonathan Eusabio's directorial debut, he has landed in a misfire. Quan plays Marvin Gable, a cheery real estate agent living his best life as he crushes the sales game and keeps everyone in the office (except for his depressed assistant) happy with his home baking. Unbeknownst to his colleagues he used to be a gangland hitman for his mob boss brother "Knuckles" and when the mysterious Rose, who Marvin was supposed to have killed, remerges, big brother dispatches the goons to get some answers from him. Cue high jinks as Marvin battles henchmen kung fu style while trying to keep his current and past lives from colliding. It's a fun idea but nothing quite comes together in the execution. Th...

I Hate You So Much Right Now

Die My Love opens with a fixed camera observing a couple exploring their new house. This voyeuristic introduction sets up the isolated home as a character in its own right and gives the impression you are about to watch a horror film. In a way, you are. The couple are new mum Grace, played by Jennifer Lawrence, and her partner Jackson (Robert Pattinson), who inherited the house from his late uncle. Although they are playful with each other while checking out their new home, once they move in it becomes clear they have some major problems. Grace stalks through the grass on all fours, hiding from Jackson and a star gazing session foreshadows a fundamental difference in the way they feel about life and their situation. The cosmos makes her feel insignificant while he is thrilled at the thought of being part of something larger. As time goes on, Grace feels more and more isolated, while Jackson is either physically or emotionally absent, and her behaviour becomes increasingly erratic...

This Week at Home

Three films this week. First up is new Amazon Prime comedy Ricky Stanicky . A group of friends blame all their miss adventures on a fictional friend but when their partners become suspicious they hire a boozed up John Cena to play the part of the infamous "Ricky Stanicky". Its stupid and there's no denying the lying bro's deserve more comeuppance than they get but there are some good laughs and an unexpectedly uplifting ending. Next up Jason Statham kicks all kind of ass as The Beekeeper , a retired uber-badass who rampages from call centres to Washington after his elderly neighbour is scammed to suicide. The Stath spouts some insane dialogue, sometimes in something approximated an American accent while a couple of feds on his tale layer on the bee metaphors. Hits all the punching, kicking, shooting and gruffness you want in a Statham movie. Last up is The House of the Devil , an early entry in the fascinating horror filmography of Ti West. An homage to the devil ...

Blood, Swearing and Call Backs

Depending on who you ask, Deadpool and Wolverine is either a glorious, long-awaited team up of two pop culture icons dripping in the best kind of fan service and stuffed with funny gags and uproariously OTT fight sequences or it's a vapid husk of a movie, trading solely on things that have come before mixed with dick jokes that's looking to make a quick buck by pleasing people who care more about the colour of costumes than substance. It's fairly easy to make an argument either way. There is no doubt the film is absolutely stuffed with references to, and appearances from, all things superhero. Well, Fox superhero anyway. Deadpool and Wolverine is much more love letter to the now defunct Fox iterations of X-men (and many others that would be a crime to spoil) movies than it is attempt to slot Deadpool into the MCU proper. The cameos, or rather appearances (director Shawn Levy says they are too integral to be called cameos) do seem to be there in the spirit of genuine fun...

Smile for the Cameras

The October horror train continues with Smile 2 , follow up to 2022 breakout hit Smile. Director and writer Parker J. Finn returns with a much more textured character story that is let down by retreading the same beats and half frights as its predecessor. After a brief segment involving Joel from the first movie we focus on pop star Sky Riley (Naomi Scott) as she attempts to mount a comeback a year on from a drug induced car crash that claimed the life of her boyfriend and left her needing extensive surgery. Unable to get strong painkillers due to her addiction problems she visits an old drug dealer friend to procure some Vicodin but when he smashes his own face in with a plate weight she inherits "The Smile" curse. She begins to experience bizarre goings on and people creepily grinning at her as she enters a race against time to discover what's going on and find a way to rid herself of the demon. By far the strongest element of Smile 2 is the character of Sky and the...

Am I Talking to Me?

The Alto Knights is everything you would expect from the teaming of respected veteran director Barry Levinson, the writer of classics like Goodfellas and Casino (Nicholas Pileggi) and screen icon Robert De Niro, a beautifully shot and supremely well acted gangster movie with a script that brings the characters to life via razor sharp dialogue. It is precisely that and absolutely nothing more, meaning your milage with it will depend on how much you enjoy watching snazzily dressed, older Italian-Americans sitting around clubs and mansions while the sword of Damocles hangs over their head. That isn't to say the film doesn't have a stab at trying to forge its own identity, the USP being that De Nero plays both lead roles. This isn't a "Legend" situation where the characters are brothers, he plays real life mafia friends turned rivals Frank Costello and Vito Genovese. Costello is more recognisably De Nero, the suave and composed man about town with only minor chang...

Dan Says its Alright

Search This Blog