Bleed For This

Titles don't matter. Or do they? What does Silver Linings Playbook mean? Do you care? Probably not. It's the movie that brings in the... bacon? Not Kevin again.

What does Bleed For This do for you? Any relation to There Will Be Blood? No.

Martin Scorsese is an executive producer. He made Raging Bull. Is that a clue? Yes.

Boxing!

The last ring side seat, occupied by an audience, was for The Fighter. Now Miles Teller (Whiplash) plays Vinny Pazienza, a super lightweight world champ who had a near fatal accident that should have cut his career off at the knees.

You could make a film based on the achievement of almost anyone at the Invictus Games and you would be making Vinny's story which is about boxing, yes, but more importantly about conquering disability.

Vinny comes from a working class Italian-American family from Providence, Rhode Island. You have been here so many times. What's new? Not much. The Irish actor Ciaran Hinds has been given the role of Vinny's dad. Weird choice. He works his socks off to bring new life into this cliche character but all you see is the wrong man shouting a lot. Aaron Eckhart, on the other hand, surpasses all expectation as Vinnie's trainer. He and Teller make it look real.

The star of the show is writer/director Ben Younger. His film may not be as good as Girlfight or Million Dollar Baby but he gives it a fresh original feel. Also, the soundtrack is not what you might expect. Better, in fact.

His risk taking is admirable. It matches Vinny's.

"The most courageous comeback in boxing history," someone announces

Sounds like PR talk although it could be true. The real life Vinny is happy. He's back on the interview circuit.