Bleed For This Review (2016)

Bleed For This

  Bleed For This is the true story of Vinny Pazienza, a world champion boxer who breaks his neck in a car crash, nearly paralyzing him, and rehabilitates himself to get back in the ring. 

  I was super excited to see this film because I'm a really big fan of Miles Teller. He's endearing, charming, and easy to root for, which is definitely a plus in a movie like this.

  While Bleed For This was good, and I did enjoy it, it wasn't as great as I wanted to be. Here are the two reasons why: 

  (1) I felt that the story lacked in plotting, specifically sub-plotting. Apart from the main story, nothing else really goes on, which makes for flat and one-denominational characters. We never get to see the personal life of Vinny outside of boxing, strippers, and his many girlfriends. 

  (2) It had no directorial flare. Everything from the fights to the narrative structure of the film felt very safe and formulaic. Such an extraordinary story deserves a less ordinary and generic execution.

  In better hands, Bleed For This could have been a really emotionally impacting sports drama, but unfortunately none of it's punches really knock anyone out. 5 out of 10 (Rent It)