Ever since he was a wee lad watching his grandfather Jack Slack (Russell Crowe) pummeling men for money, Jem has wanted to be like him, much to his mother’s dismay. Jack loves Jem and wants him to grow up to be an outstanding man, but to have him follow in his footsteps is a bad way to be. After some time has gone by, Jem (Matt Hookings), now working as a blacksmith, feels something is missing in his life. When stumbling across a fight in the woods, Jem tries his hand at the purse and defeats his opponent, this might be the spark that he needs to get his life going.
Bill Warr (Ray Winstone) recruits Jem and starts the training process. After winning a fight in London, Jem gets to see how the other half lives when he is invited to dine with the lords and ladies who came to the fight. Getting a bit too comfortable with people from outside his class and dealing with devastating accident, Jem returns home determined to get back to the person he once was.
Hubris and arrogance will never get you far in life. Just because you have a few people stroking your ego doesn’t mean that the high will last forever. As long as you can remember how you got to that high in the first place, you can take the time and learn how to get back up there once you get knocked down. Never forget who you were.
Director Daniel Graham along with Matt Hookings’ writing take on an age old story of the underdog who came from nothing, who worked hard and was profound enough in his abilities that we’re still talking about him 200 years later, and remind us that the story is still the same. People over come odds all the time to achieve great things. Exquisitely photographed, with what I assume is available light, Prizefighter reminds us that there isn’t anything we can’t do if we don’t put our minds to it and that anything is possible if you work hard for it. Even if that means getting punched in the head repeatedly in order to win a large sum of money.
Prizefighter is streaming on Prime Video 22 July
Reviewed online (screener provided by publicist), July 21, 2022. Running time: 107 min.
PRODUCTION: An Amazon Prime Video release of a Camelot Films & Hardman Pictures production. Producers: Chris Hardman & Matt Hookings. Executive producers: Nate Bolotin, Michael Breen, Alastair Burlingham, Maxime Cottray, Catherine D’Arcy, Steve Dent, Charlie Dombek, Charles Dorfman, Kestutis Drazdauskas, Marc Goldberg, Peter Hampden, Sonja Klaus, Tai Lopez, Norman Merry, Paul Parker, Daniel Pittack, Gary Raskin, Keith Rodger, Marlon Vogelgesang & Elizabeth Williams.
CREW: Director: Daniel Graham. Writer: Matt Hookings. Cinematography: Ben Ziryab. Editing: Jeff Cummings & Chris Gill. Music: Paul Saunderson.
CAST: Matt Hookings, Ray Winstone, Russell Crowe, Marton Csokas, Jodhi May, Julian Glover, Steven Berkoff, Glen Fox, Ricky Chaplin & Lucy Martin.