CHRISTY: 3 STARS. “a knockout star turn from Sydney Sweeney.”
SYNOPSIS: In the sport biopic “Christy,” now playing in theatres, Sydney Sweeney plays a successful professional boxer who faced her biggest battles outside the ring.
CAST: Sydney Sweeney, Ben Foster, Merritt Wever, Katy O’Brian. Directed by David Michôd.
REVIEW: Boxing movies are never about the big match. Instead, they’re about the journey, which, in “Christy’s” case, is a story of the real-life triumphs and traumas of former professional boxer Christy Martin.
The action begins in late 1980s West Virginia when a gay coal miner’s daughter named Christy Salters discovers an innate talent for beating the heck out of other women in the boxing ring. Her skill catches the eye of a $500-a-fight promotor who offers her to hook her up with trainer James V. Martin (Ben Foster). Initially reluctant to work with a woman, James is won over by Christy’s ferocity in the ring. “Maybe there is something to this lady boxing business,” he says.
Leaving high school girlfriend Rosie (Jess Gabor) behind, much to the relief of her controlling mother Joyce Salters (Merritt Wever), Christy steps back into the closet, marries the unpredictable James and, in a few short years, becomes a champion, the first woman to sign with flamboyant promoter Don King and the first female boxer to appear on the cover of “Sports Illustrated.”
Her rise to the top, however, comes at a great cost, physically and mentally. Forced to subvert her sexual identity and submit to Jim’s will inside and outside the ring, she compromises every aspect of her life. “If you leave me,” Jim says, “I will kill you.”
Part “Star 80,” part “Raging Bull,” “Christy” is a gritty, if overlong, story of struggle and resilience, of compromise and abuse. Director David Michôd, who co-wrote the script with Mirrah Foulkes, tackles every aspect of Christy’s life. Christy’s rise to fame is pure by-the-book underdog sports biopic material, amped up with sometimes brutal boxing scenes, which are very convincingly played by Sweeney and her various opponents.
Sweeney’s transformation to pitbull, win-at-any-cost fighter in the ring is impressive, but it is her work in the film’s family drama sections that showcases her best work. The emotional brutality she experiences at the hand of James surpasses any punishment she suffers in the ring. She convinces as Christy the athlete and as a person trying desperately to keep her head above water. It’s remarkable work in a movie that, unfortunately, doesn’t live up to its central performance.
As a movie “Christy” is on the ropes, but is elevated by a transformative, knockout star turn from Sweeney.
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