Parents' Guide to Boxer

This boxing drama is too long, full of contrivances, and simply doesn't do enough to justify its length. There is definitely the sense that Boxer is going for an epic feel, but the story is too small and formulaic. The film is acted well and shot nicely, but there's nothing new here, unfortunately. The story does find Jedrzej, Kasia, and Czesiek facing some hardship as new immigrants to England, but this context is quickly left to follow Jedrzej's rise and fall in a shady boxing world. And his rise is full of stereotypical boxing drama: He starts to get a bit famous; starts to earn money (or so he thinks); loses sight of his wife, child, and family; starts doing drugs; starts cheating on his wife; and declines into lazy training.

Also, given that this is a boxing drama, the actual boxing should be more thrilling. But each boxing scene is largely shot in the same way, and there isn't much creativity on display. Most of these scenes quickly devolve into one boxer's simply beating on the other. Further, many viewers will not see the appeal of the main character. Yes, in the beginning, he has the drive and the motivation to become a great boxer, and he is focused and determined. But what else about his character is compelling? Merely the fact that he is Polish and is forced to flee (like the film's epilogue makes clear) his homeland in the late 1980s? Further, Kasia merely fills the expectedly limited supporting and loving wife role (up until she "just can't take it anymore"), and Czesiek feels like a forced role that exists only to provide a traumatic moment near the end of the film.