Bleed for This (2016)

Directed by: Ben Younger | 112 minutes | biography, drama, sports | Actors: Miles Teller, Aaron Eckhart, Katey Sagal, Ciarán Hinds, Ted Levine, Jordan Gelber, Amanda Clayton, Daniel Sauli, Christine Evangelista, Tina Casciani, Liz Carey, Denise Schaefer, Peter Quillin, Jean Pierre Augustin, Edwin Rodriguez, Marv Albert

A boxing film about an underdog who has to overcome all kinds of challenges, that sounds like a dime a dozen. And yet ‘Bleed for This’ manages to survive as a fascinating film despite a handful of sports film clichés.

‘Bleed for this’ tells the true story of Vinny Pazienza, multiple world boxing champion. Shortly after winning a world title, Paz, as he is officially known today, has a terrible car accident in which he breaks his neck. The doctors doubt he would ever walk again; boxing already seems out of reach. But Vinny Paz thinks otherwise and plans his comeback. In short, all the ingredients for a predictable boxing film.

The fact that a movie is predictable shouldn’t be a problem, as long as it remains believable and captivating. What keeps the film going in the case of ‘Bleed for This’ is the true character. As a viewer you become curious about the real people behind the characters. The film also cleverly responds to this by showing real archive images every now and then. (The urge to look up the real boxing matches on YouTube is therefore difficult to suppress.) The choice to use these images is not only provocative, but also necessary, because the characters in the film sometimes lean towards parodies. Vinny’s father, played by Ciaran Hinds, is the ultimate example of this. His character is so exaggerated at times that it’s hard to really believe it. ‘Bleed for This’ has to remind the viewer every now and then that this really happened in order to keep it all upright. A point of criticism is that the film shows acted scenes as archive material at a certain point. This undermines the real archive images and also has a somewhat destabilizing effect. Because in retrospect you start to doubt all the previous material.

Still, ‘Bleed for This’ scores more than satisfactory. Despite the sometimes somewhat caricatural features, the acting remains of a good standard. Miles Teller, known for ‘Whiplash’, makes Vinny Pazienza a sympathetic character. Aaron Eckhart also plays strong and turns a walking sports cliché (shunted coach who wants to show his quality one more time) into a credible character. And that goes for the entire movie. Due to the qualities of the makers, it stays away from the predictability and superficiality that is so characteristic of many boxing films.