After playing many matches and achieving many victories, Matty Burton, middleweight boxing champion, makes his decision to leave the field to stay with his family. In one of his last matches, he plays a strong round against Andre Bryte who gives him an effective punch. After the match, symptoms of memory loss start to appear on Burton.
With a tightly-focused script, this film feels perhaps a bit slight, like a short stretched to feature length. But it skillfully captures a sense of real life for characters caught in an extraordinary situation.
Boxing is never condemned as Considine is fascinated by his subject. And as an example of his talent and commitment to filmmaking, this film is a knockout
[Paddy] Considine, who plays the part, isn't too convincing as a top-level fighter. But then it's not as if the film is much more persuasive in any other regard, beyond its well-meant performances.
Thoughtful, tender-hearted drama pivots around the actor-turned-director's central performance, but that turn is never allowed to overshadow terrific work by [Jodi] Whittaker and [Anthony] Welsh
The film is a little self-serious, and the story's recovery arc wraps up too tidily, but as a character study - and showcase for Considine and Whittaker's considerable gifts as actors - it's surprisingly interesting and angular.
