Glen Kirby / UK / 2o17 / 90 mins
@Cineworld Wed 28 June 2017 & Fri 30 June 2017
Part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival
Estranged from his two sons for many years following the premature death of his wife, William MacCrae (Matthew Jure) is a fish out of water floundering through his academic career with the aid of alcohol, drugs and the occasional reversion into his failed boxing career. When a family disaster forces him to take stock of his life and re-engage with his offspring, his mission to pull himself together quickly unravels into a quest to save his own life and those of his loved ones.
The Pugilist sets its stall out fairly early on as a traditional revenge flick, with MacCrae forced to draw on his experience in the ring to fight off ruthless enemies outside of it. The classic underdog story of redemption, the movie features many things to write home about, including beautiful shots of the Scottish countryside, a firm hand from the director and impressive turns from the entirety of the cast. Stand-out performances come from Grace Calder and Thomas Beatty, but Jure steals the show with his unassuming and understated portrayal of a remorseful, damaged man attempting to piece the shards of his former existence back together.
Jure’s believability is the glue which holds the movie together, and though the storyline starts off in similarly realistic fashion, it caves into contrivance and implausibility towards its end. Plot twists are heavily telegraphed early on (director Glen Kirby would have benefited from a little more bobbing and weaving and a few fewer uppercuts and roundhouse rights) and the villains are just that bit too cartoonish and overblown to be credible. Meanwhile, the final scenes are beyond beggaring belief – they make a punch-drunk fool out of it.
All in all, The Pugilist is a highly entertaining and tension-building piece of cinema, which keeps its audience engaged and rooting for the protagonist throughout. Unfortunately, it opts for symmetry and neatness in its denouement, compromising what had been up until that point a very enjoyable, if a little predictable, revenge story.
Saw this at EFF. Thought it was a very strong, taut and compelling story, though I agree some elements stretched believability and the bad guy was one note (though entertaining). I’m curious what you mean by “symmetry and neatness in its denouement”- what specifically didn’t you like about that?
************* SPOILERS *************
Thanks for your response John. I found the final fight-out scene far too contrived; the goons were stopped by a fire door? The Pugilist engaged in a fistfight when he had the gun in his hand and the villain had already double-crossed him multiple times? I thought it went for a trite ending (having the two of them duke it out) rather than something more believable and, dare I say it, hard-hitting.