Parents' Guide to Day of the Fight

This black-and-white drama doesn't bring anything new to the boxing genre—it's a bit familiar and regimented—but it's deeply thoughtful and moving, with a nicely gritty, chilly atmosphere. The writing and directing debut of Boardwalk Empire actor (and grandson of John Huston) Jack Huston, Day of the Fight (possibly named after Stanley Kubrick's early short film?) has a classical structure, recalling Robert Wise's The Set-Up (1949), which also took place over the course of one day. Each segment in the movie has a little beginning and ending, and it can feel a little too talky and blocky (it's less innovative than the elder Huston's great 1972 boxing movie Fat City). But each sequence is imbued with such beauty that it's easy to forgive.

The movie is set in 1989, before the internet and cell phones, so it has a sense of quiet. The folksy score is soft and contemplative and includes a tune by Searching for Sugar Man's Rodriguez. It's chilly in this Brooklyn neighborhood, and people are barely scraping by, but everyone knows everyone, and there's a palpable sense of caring and community. There's a small scene in which Mikey stops by his usual café for breakfast and has a mostly meaningless but still lovely exchange with the woman who works there (she chokes up a little during their talk). In another scene, Mikey gives his coat to a young girl whose mother is entertaining a gentleman caller inside (the child has been asked to wait outside). It helps that the acting is uniformly superb, all low-key and subtle, with each moment packed with shared history and shorthand. Pitt in particular has never been so good, even though he sometimes comes across a bit Rocky-ish. Day of the Fight may have its shortcomings, but as a movie that feels its feelings, it's most satisfying.