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FIGHTINGMovie Reviews
Drama about a small-town boy hustling his way through the big city and a scam artist who inducts him into the violent world of bare-knuckle brawling. Cast:Channing Tatum, Terrence Howard, Brian J. White, Luis Guzman, Zulay HenaoDirector:Dito MontielRelease Date:April 24, 2009DVD Release:August 25, 2009From:Rogue PicturesRating:PG-13Length:1 hr. 45 min.
Fighting played to mixed reviews. • Christopher Kelly wrote in the Dallas Morning News, "...an unusually expressive sports movie, a piece of pulp fiction that is punch-drunk on Hollywood history.... displays restraint and attentiveness to character..." • And Randy Cordova wrote in the Arizona Republic, "Too dumb to be taken seriously and too slow to be a fun and mindless B flick..." More Reviews Below...
Adam Markovitz, Entertainment Weekly: FAIR(cg) "Tatum, a putty-face hunk with a neck like a ham hock, shows an offhand ease on camera that would've come in handy if he were playing an actual character..."(See all of Adam Markovitz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 112 words, 04/24/09
David Germain, Associated Press: MODERATE(cg) "...has a tired old premise as an underdog finds a wise but down-and-out mentor to take him to the big time and a nice new girlfriend to lend him emotional support. Yo, Rocky!"(See all of David Germain's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 576 words, 04/24/09
Lisa Rosman, Us Weekly: MODERATE(cg) "The plot drags, and the bout scenes are more gory than expertly executed.... We see plenty of brawls, but not even one full love scene..."(See all of Lisa Rosman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 87 words, 04/23/09
Claudia Puig, USA Today: WEAK(cg) "Tatum is likable enough. But his limited range -- hampered by an on-again, off-again Southern accent -- undermines a lackluster tale."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 416 words, 04/24/09
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (10 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: VERY GOOD "Its ambitions are modest, and it doesn't pursue them with excessive zeal, which may be why, improbably, it feels like a winner."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 916 words, 04/24/09
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a bare-bones effort that tries just hard enough to keep us watching. By making good use of its New York setting, Montiel does bring a certain indie grit to the generic story."(See all of Elizabeth Weitzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 441 words, 04/24/09
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: VERY GOOD(cg) "...not a cinematic breakthrough. But it is much more involving than I thought it would be.... a well-crafted, touching experience."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 616 words, 04/23/09
Michael Ordoña, Los Angeles Times: GOOD "...populated by believable losers and lovingly adorned with just the right faces and peeling wallpaper to absorb you in co-writer/director Dito Montiel's world."(See all of Michael Ordoña's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 302 words, 04/24/09
Kyle Smith, New York Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "Dito Montiel, who also co-wrote the script, fills the movie with convincing New Yorkers of all colors and accents fighting to make it amid a backdrop of shapeless zaniness."(See all of Kyle Smith's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 627 words, 04/24/09
Liam Lacey, Toronto Globe & Mail: MODERATE(cg) "...a crude love letter to seventies' New York cinema but set in the present. The screen images feel elongated, including the omniscient overhead shots of the city's skyscrapers."(See all of Liam Lacey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 676 words, 04/24/09
Scott Foundas, Village Voice/LA Weekly: POOR "...plays like an exploitation movie that thinks it's an art movie, with lackluster fight scenes, a grafted-on romance, and no art anywhere to be found."(See all of Scott Foundas's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 610 words, 04/22/09
Andrew Dowler, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "The human story barely exists. There's no sense to our hero's bitter rivalry with another fighter and no payoff to the bookies' dire threats of murder."(See all of Andrew Dowler's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 139 words, 04/23/09
KEY CITIES (10 Reviews)
Dan Kois, Washington Post: POOR(cg) "...contains only four fights, and only two of them are any good. Such is the critical math necessary to assess this limp underground-brawling drama."(See all of Dan Kois's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 354 words, 04/24/09
Matthew Odam, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: POOR(cg) "...sloppily thrown together... Had the actors and premise been able to come to life the way the city does, the movie may have had a puncher's chance."(See all of Matthew Odam's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 591 words, 04/24/09
Christopher Kelly, Dallas Morning News: EXCELLENT(cg) "...an unusually expressive sports movie, a piece of pulp fiction that is punch-drunk on Hollywood history.... displays restraint and attentiveness to character..."(See all of Christopher Kelly's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 598 words, 04/24/09
Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle: VERY GOOD(cg) "While there are plenty of underground street fights in this film, they never come at the expense of the characters or atmosphere.... Montiel remembered the neighborhood."(See all of Peter Hartlaub's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 489 words, 04/24/09
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...courses with the crazy energy and urban life that usually get sapped out of these tales of men beating the life out of each other. This one feels almost electrically authentic."(See all of Wesley Morris's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 668 words, 04/24/09
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: MODERATE(cg) "...a mess, but in a good way. It wanders the streets in the tatters of earlier screenplay drafts, distracted by a romantic subplot here, a colorful minor character there."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 517 words, 04/24/09
Scott Foundas, Village Voice/LA Weekly: POOR "...plays like an exploitation movie that thinks it's an art movie, with lackluster fight scenes, a grafted-on romance, and no art anywhere to be found."(See all of Scott Foundas's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 610 words, 04/22/09
David Wildman, Boston Phoenix: MODERATE(cg) "...the real battle is between Dito Montiel and his own soulless script, as he tries to obscure the hackneyed plot with elaborate street settings, chaotic fight scenes, and gratuitous helicopter shots."(See all of David Wildman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 151 words, 04/30/09
Andrew Dowler, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "The human story barely exists. There's no sense to our hero's bitter rivalry with another fighter and no payoff to the bookies' dire threats of murder."(See all of Andrew Dowler's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 139 words, 04/23/09
Tricia Olszewski, Washington City Paper: POOR "...a complete disaster. The first rule of fight flicks? For God's sake, don't be boring. Instead of 'Fighting,' Montiel might have called his second feature 'Sleepwalking'..."(See all of Tricia Olszewski's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 538 words, 04/23/09
HIGHBROW PRESS (3 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: VERY GOOD "Its ambitions are modest, and it doesn't pursue them with excessive zeal, which may be why, improbably, it feels like a winner."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 916 words, 04/24/09
David Denby, New Yorker: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "At the moment, Tatum seems like a greater Josh Hartnett rather than a lesser Paul Newman.... even if the movie is a fake as a fight picture, it's still a decent commercial entertainment."(See all of David Denby's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 611 words, 05/04/09
Michael Ordoña, Los Angeles Times: GOOD "...populated by believable losers and lovingly adorned with just the right faces and peeling wallpaper to absorb you in co-writer/director Dito Montiel's world."(See all of Michael Ordoña's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 302 words, 04/24/09
MOVIE INDUSTRY (4 Reviews)
John Anderson, Daily Variety: MODERATE "For all the utter phoniness -- the cockeyed, faux-verite shooting, the lurches in storytelling, the lack of character development, a contrived crisis... 'Fighting's' not so bad."(See all of John Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 653 words, 04/23/09
Michael Ordoña, Los Angeles Times: GOOD "...populated by believable losers and lovingly adorned with just the right faces and peeling wallpaper to absorb you in co-writer/director Dito Montiel's world."(See all of Michael Ordoña's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 302 words, 04/24/09
A.O. Scott, New York Times: VERY GOOD "Its ambitions are modest, and it doesn't pursue them with excessive zeal, which may be why, improbably, it feels like a winner."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 916 words, 04/24/09
22.0 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Fighting's reviews are separated by an average 22.0 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Fighting (30 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Fighting's reviews cover 48.2% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 13,617 words involume (average is 20,172 words). Length:The film's reviews average 454 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 12.6 Hours After Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Fighting's reviews on average broke 12.6 hours after opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Fighting's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
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