Girlfight
From AwardAnnals
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| Director(s) | Karyn Kusama |
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| Distributor | Sony Pictures |
| Honors | |
| First-time director Karyn Kusama tells a simple but compelling story of a young woman in Brooklyn whose violent impulses in school, and her tendency to physicalize her anger, lead her to train as a boxer. Her trainer at first puts her off, but the combination of her desire and her physical prowess changes his mind. As played by Michelle Rodriguez, Diane is a scowling lightning rod for sudden violence who discovers that she can find a sense of personal grace in boxing—in the training and in the honing of skills—that seems to spill over into her daily life, despite… | |
Honors
Reviews
Amazon.com
First-time director Karyn Kusama tells a simple but compelling story of a young woman in Brooklyn whose violent impulses in school, and her tendency to physicalize her anger, lead her to train as a boxer. Her trainer at first puts her off, but the combination of her desire and her physical prowess changes his mind. As played by Michelle Rodriguez, Diane is a scowling lightning rod for sudden violence who discovers that she can find a sense of personal grace in boxing—in the training and in the honing of skills—that seems to spill over into her daily life, despite the disapproval of an abusive father. Kusama isn’t telling a new story here, but she tells a familiar one with a sense of passion and pride in the uncharted territory this represents for women. Though a romantic subplot seems almost tacked on as an afterthought—Diane must box the boy she loves—Girlfight is engaging and even touching. —Marshall Fine
Barnes and Noble
A “love match” isn’t normally something that plays out in a boxing ring, but that’s exactly what happens in Girlfight, a gritty little romantic drama set in an ethnic urban milieu. Making her screen debut, Michelle Rodriguez projects strength and determination as a hot-tempered Brooklyn high school senior who begins training at a local gym to work off her aggression. Ex-boxer Jaime Tirelli teaches her to channel her rage, and by accepting discipline and exerting willpower she becomes a contender for the local amateur championship. Enter promising fighter Santiago Douglas, whose strong feelings for Michelle are destined to be tested in a dramatic contest. First-time director Karyn Kusama adopts a workmanlike approach, eschewing flashy cinematographic effects and narrative gimmickry to let Rodriguez dominate the screen with her dynamic presence. Raw, unpolished, but surprisingly compelling, Girlfight upends squared-circle drama clich&ecute;s, and it should prove inspirational to young women seeking to invade arenas traditionally dominated by men. For the DVD edition, Kusama supplies a full-length commentary and appears in a making-of featurette. Ed Hulse
