Seen on: April 24, 2009

The players: Director: Dito Montiel, Writers: Dito Montiel, Robert Munic, Cast: Channing Tatum, Terrence Howard, Zulay Henao, Michael Rivera, Luis Guzman

Facts of interest: Montiel also helmed "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints."

The plot: Channing Tatum plays a poor chap who gets a shot at a bunch of money by diving into the world of underground street fighting.

Our thoughts: In Dito Montiel’s latest directorial effort “Fighting,” Channing Tatum plays Shawn MacArthur, a poor small-town guy who’s now living in New York City but clearly has a hard time getting by. In other words, he spends his days selling fake crap on the sidewalk…

Shawn’s life, however, takes a drastic turn when he runs into Harvey (Terrence Howard), a hustler who promises him a lot of money if he agrees to step into the dark world of underground street fighting. All Shawn cares about is making lots of moola, so he eventually decides to give it a shot.

You can imagine what happens next. In fact, it’s way too easy to figure out where “Fighting” is headed from here, and that’s just one of the film’s flaws that really made it impossible for me to enjoy this thing. Lacking surprises and suspense, this is probably the most forgettable film I’ve seen so far this year.

No, it’s not the worst movie of the year, but it’s just totally forgettable. I’ve been thinking about “Fighting” quite a bit ever since I got back from my screening, but no matter how hard I try, I don’t come up with much, and I guess the primary reason is that the film just failed to catch my attention in any way.

The script by Montiel and Robert Munic is simplistic at best, and the movie’s plot is burdened with uninteresting dialogue and occasional street brawls, most of which are lame and quite simply too short to impress. The film’s final battle is decent enough, but that’s about it for the action.

The characters aren’t memorable either. Tatum’s Shawn is the sweet guy one minute and a badass aggressive fighter the next, but his bland look and attitude don’t say much. When he’s not fighting he’s chasing after the charming Zulay (Zulay Henao), but their romance doesn’t quite cut it either.

That leaves Shawn’s so-called manager Harvey, and although I admit I almost felt bad for the guy because of Terrence Howard’s sorrowful look, I wonder why the screenwriters gave him such a naïve personality. The supporting roles include brief appearances by Luis Guzman and Brian J. White.

Freaky quote: “Go make some money." – Terrence Howard

The final word: Maybe the weather outside is too good and my brain doesn’t function properly, but I simply couldn’t figure this movie out, really. In my personal opinion, “Fighting” is pretty much about nothing. Heck, even the fighting sucks, and I originally thought I was at least going to see some fast-paced brawls. Not this time.

Article by Franck Tabouring