Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

nycritic FIGHTING TOMMY RILEY is a movie that tries to bring up an issue but manages to corrupt it and come off stinking in its own hypocrisy. Coming off of having seen such films as Cinderella MAN, ROCKY, and MILLION-DOLLAR BABY, this one was shown on gay network LOGO and I felt the curiosity tugging at me, because (I thought) it would be interesting to see a film that touched gay issues while showcasing a plot in a masculine environment. The plot: nothing out of the ordinary. If anything, it follows Clint Eastwood's movie almost step by step from start to about two thirds, when it suddenly devolves into a complete mess tinted with shades of shrieking maudlin. (Actually, MILLION DOLLAR BABY did have a similar detour into maudlin but we're comparing fine, aged wine and this is poor man's vino.) Because, you see, there is the catch: the trainer (Eddie Jones) is gay, and the cocky fighter with the chiseled looks (J. P. Davis) is prone to gay panic and fake machismo. And in this world, the mix is as harmonious as oil and water. The problem with FIGHTING TOMMY RILEY is that it offers no resolution to the way the relation between Riley and Marty has until then progressed, and the implausibility of Tommy not being aware of a speck of gay interest coming from Marty, especially in the scene where Marty decides to massage Tommy, is ridiculous. Even more implausible is how Marty later comes off as a male (and portly) version of Martha Dobie, but the crowning achievement is how Tommy sheds not a tear at learning of Marty's fate and moves on. Because, as you see, when you become close to another person, that is exactly how you should react to their demise. And that's probably why this dreadful movie is not more known: it's a travesty.

pyotr-3 This film is a very touching Rocky-like story with a twist that comes up far more often than people think, and it's about time it was finally represented in a film.Tommy is a young boxer with potential who is nurtured by an elderly boxing manager who happens to be gay. Together, they make a great boxing team, and Tommy thrives. In the end, Tommy is offered a million dollars to go with a new management company - and if he takes this offer he must leave behind his old manager, the man who helped to make him into the man he became.The film could have been about anti-Jewish prejudice or anti-black prejudice or anti-Moslem prejudice or any other kind of foolish prejudice. But today the one remaining prejudice that rules the sports world is the foolish prejudice against gay athletes and coaches. Films like this may help people to put a face on this injustice, and see how absurd and counterproductive it is.I won't tell how the film ends, except to say that it is realistic. The performances in "Fighting Tommy Riley" are outstanding. Though probably made with a small budget, this film feels as big and as real as its important subject matter.

nimbleweevil I'll admit upfront that I am a world-class bawl-baby and it's not hard for a movie to make me cry. I cry when I watch a movie that's depressing, uplifting, frightening, adorable, funny, or - more than anything - clearly shot from the heart and at the heart. Therefore, it should surprise no one that Fighting Tommy Riley, which was all of the above, made me sob.The back-cover story is not what one would call original - in fact, it sounds like a rip-off of the wonderful Million Dollar Baby. Old, washed-up second-class has-been meets young, wide-eyed, unstoppable ready-to-take-on-the-world talent and together they make the perfect team, which eventually carries them both to some kind of championship. It even has all the usual heart-of-gold character twists that we know from movies like M$B - young talent is pursued by steel-hearted bigwigs but displays unwavering loyalty to trainer, trainer becomes the parent young talent never had, and eventually, unspeakable tragedy strikes. But this old, washed-up plot has found its way to a young, unstoppable talent - writer and star J.P. Davis - and he has done some beautiful things with it.The performances of Davis and co-star Eddie Jones are electrifying. Jones's monologue (delivered by his character, Marty Goldberg, to the frank, temperamental Tommy) about why it's wrong to judge is a gem on the level of Ellen Burstyn's monologue from Requiem for a Dream. The cabin-in-the-woods scene (those who have seen the film know exactly what I'm talking about, and those who haven't are in for a cinematic treat) is also a thing of beauty, put together in just the right way to wrench at the viewer's heart. Yet the movie manages not to preach, and this in itself is a thing of wonder - when something is told from the heart, it's hard not to get on the soapbox.This should be the point where I say that this disturbing and, at times, extremely adult movie is not for everyone, and I agree that it will probably be lost on young children. It is for everyone else. You will fall in love with these characters, and when it turns out that they aren't (are? I actually figured out what was going on early in the movie) exactly what they seem, you, like Tommy Riley, will find it very hard to abandon them.The gentle, up-close-and-personal style of cinematography was well-deserving of this award it's already won, and Eddie O'Flaherty's direction is the work of a man who knows what he wants and how to get it. The ending is a little hokey, but not so much that it ruins what has already come.I once heard someone say that all boxing movies are great. Excluding all of the ridiculous Rocky sequels, I have to agree with him, though I'm not sure this is so much a boxing movie as a movie about men - REAL men, not great epic-hero conquerers. As a result, you will connect with Tommy and Marty in a way you never connected with William Wallace, Maximus, and Alexander, and you won't be forgetting it soon.Grade: A-.

dpcoffin Just saw this on DVD, still buzzing, forgive me if I gush a bit... AMAZING film, imo. Great fan of boxing flix, which is why I picked this up. But this is really not about boxing at all; the boxing part is just a great and compelling metaphor for the get-back-up-and-keep-on-keeping-on thing, could have been anything that justified getting these characters together in such an intense way, so it worked fine, but it's just the setting; the story is the relationship, the histories, the gifts, the consequences, the layers... totally smokes Million$Baby, I think, in so many ways. Great performances, fascinating cinematography/art-direction, like great book illustration, often, esp. in the beginning, gut-wrenchingly moving... See it!