Heavyweight

It’s impressive whenever a filmmaker finds a new angle to a well-trodden genre, and extraordinary if they do so on their first outing. In this case, director Christopher M. Anthony has hit a belter with Heavyweight, a psychological sports drama about a boxer gearing up backstage for the biggest fight of his life. Through stinging dialogue and masterful tension, he doesn’t throw his lead into the ring as much as bring it crashing down atop of him.

Derek ‘Diamond’ Douglas (Jordan Bolger) is gearing up for a bout that will lionise him if he wins, but he and his team are shocked to learn his main training partner Cain (Osy Ikhile) has defected to support the other side at the last minute. Paranoid at what his former friend is telling the enemy, Derek’s hardened psychology begins to crumble. Throw on top of this self-doubt, arguments amongst his team on how to prepare, testing media agreements and some grizzly flesh wounds, and the diamond is no longer formed but risks being destroyed under pressure.

The film does a wonderful job questioning the ethics of teammates pushing someone else through pain, whilst standing to benefit from any realised glory as well. Being the figurehead nets you prestige, but who’ll stand beside you if you fall? The film’s title couldn’t be more apt, summing up the enormity of the burden Derek appears to carry alone.

The characters, all fantastically played, form a melange of blood, sweat, tears and tape that isn’t easily forgotten. Stand out performances include Nicholas Pinnock as Coach Adam, who manages to convey vastly conflicting emotions simultaneously with minute detail in an instant. Meeting his match is Ikhile as Cain, who manages to crawl under our lead and the audience’s skin without straying into being annoying. Blake Harrison steals every scene he’s in as an overworked fight promoter, and a fiery cameo from Jason Isaacs rounds out a strong supporting cast nicely. With the film all set in one location, the Diamond team’s prep room, it lives or dies with its characters; Heavyweight has memorable personalities in spades.

Perhaps a somewhat formulaic heart-to-heart near the end knocks the third act down a bit, but it doesn’t dilute any of the crackling tension beforehand by one iota. It’ll be interesting to see how cinematographer-turned-director Christopher Anthony’s career progresses from here. Either way, you’ll catch me buying a ticket to his next directorial outing, whenever that comes. Christopher, take your time to make something just as good as this, and you’ll have a double knockout.