After more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. When he finds himself training a detachment of TOPGUN graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: “Rooster,” the son of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka “Goose”.
Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it.
Maverick is FINALLY coming to theatres May 27. Watch the NEW official trailer now
Directed by Joseph Kosinski, the film stars Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Charles Parnell, Bashir Salahuddin, Monica Barbaro, Jay Ellis, Danny Ramirez, Greg Tarzan Davis with Ed Harris.
TOP GUN: MAVERICK IS IN THEATRES, DOLBY CINEMA, AND IMAX MAY 27, 2022
TOM CRUISE PLAYS CAPT. PETE “MAVERICK” MITCHELL, MILES TELLER PLAYS LT. BRADLEY “ROOSTER” BRADSHAW, MONICA BARBARO PLAYS “PHOENIX” AND GLEN POWELL PLAYS “HANGMAN” IN TOP GUN: MAVERICK FROM PARAMOUNT PICTURES, SKYDANCE AND JERRY BRUCKHEIMER FILMS.Tom Cruise plays Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in Top Gun: Maverick from Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Jerry Bruckheimer Films.
Check out Tom Cruise in this first teaser for TOP GUN: MAVERICK!
Cruise surprised Hall H in San Diego as the Top Gun: Maverick official trailer soars at Comic-Con 50.
This teaser will give you chills! Wow!
Even the first poster is crazy good… all we can say is, damn!
The original film was released on May 13, 1986 in over 1,000 cinemas by Paramount Pictures and was the highest-grossing film of 1986. It would be six months before its theater count dropped below that of its opening week. It was number one on its first weekend with an US $8,193,052 gross, and went on to a total domestic figure of US $176,786,701.
Nominated for 4 Oscars, the film won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Take My Breath Away” performed by Berlin.
Paramount Pictures, Skydance and Jerry Bruckheimer Films Present Top Gun: Maverick. Starring Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, and Lewis Pullman. With Ed Harris.
Joseph Kosinski, who directed Cruise in 2013’s Oblivion, is helming TOP GUN: MAVERICK.
Look for TOP GUN: MAVERICK in theaters on June 26, 2020.
Contributed by Michelle Hannett and Melissa Thompson
Not all wounds suffered in war are obvious. The fog of war is replaced by the fog of the VA for a band of soldiers returned from Iraq in THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE. While several films have depicted the experience of soldiers in the Iraq War, few have told the story of their experience after they return home. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE focuses on gritty reality rather than comforting patriotism as it follows a handful of Iraq War veterans coping with a military that seems far less responsive as they move from soldiers to veterans, and as they struggle to adjust to a civilian life where those who lost a leg are recognized but less so those suffering the wounds of PTSD.
Other Iraq war films have focused on the experience of war but THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE spotlights the obligation of the military to soldiers as they transition to veterans. Miles Teller delivers a sterling performance as Adam Schumann, the de facto leader of this close-knit group. Among this band of brothers are Tausolo Aieti (Beulah Koale), Billy Waller (Joe Cole) And Michael Emory (Scott Haze). On the flight home, they jokes and tease, talk about their plans for the future, and seem eager to get back to civilian life. But part of it is a brave front to cover up troubling problems or even pure fantasy. As they shed their uniforms, a new battle begins.
A new reality greets them as soon as they land, when Schumann’s wife Saskia (Haley Bennett) meets him in the company of her best friend Amanda (Amy Schumer, in a rare dramatic role), the widow of one of the group who didn’t make it home. Amanda is desperate for details on her husband’s death, something Teller’s Schumann is equally desperate to avoid talking about.
The cast also includes Keisha Castle-Hughes, Brad Beyer, Omar J. Dorsey, and Jayson Warner Smith. Cinematography by Roman Vasyanov adds a surprising beauty to ordinary settings, and helps draw out the inner conflicts the men are struggling with.
Writer/director Jason Hall takes a direct, head-on approach to the challenges these vets face, which makes it clear his sympathies lie with these soldiers rather than the system or superior offices. Based on journalist David Finkel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, this film has a far different tone from his last film, AMERICAN SNIPER. Those who disliked that film may find this one more involving and insightful, while those who embraced the earlier film may not care for its hard-hitting stance on the treatment of veterans by the military.
One of the first parts of that battle is just the transition from active military to veteran. The military is glad to have them re-enlist and walk them through every step but when it comes to even getting the card to get the veterans benefits they are owed, the men find themselves waiting in huge room of fellow soldiers, facing a bewildering system of forms and with no one to guide them. It is a lot to ask of someone suffering from PTSD and accustomed to military efficiency. On the streets, their uniforms draw thank-yous but no practical help. Once out of uniform and with no obvious wounds, they are expected to fit in with the unforgiving pace of a society that has moved forward without them.
The sympathies of this moving drama are with the returning soldiers rather than military or government they served. When striking scene has Teller’s Schumann in the office of commanding officer that is supposed to be helping him get treatment for his PTSD. While the officer seems like his is going to help, his focus keeps drifting to the online shopping he is doing while trying to help Schumann. It is a perfect illustration of a flawed system, where even personal attention is some how impersonal. The search for help is vital to Schumann but just routine to the officer, no matter how well-meaning he may be.
As the drama builds, all these soldiers go on their own rocky journeys, often trying to tough through on their own. Schumann continues to play a protective role towards the others as he did in Iraq but finally he has to confront his own demons.
Much of why this film works emotionally as well as it does (and it does work better than many recent war films) is due to Miles Teller’s strong, layered performance. Teller has shown himself to be an acting power house in films such as WHIPLASH and THE SPECTACULAR NOW, and here he shows his range in a role of both quiet strength and complex human feelings. The ensemble cast blend well, each adding their own distinct thread, but Teller’s performance is the linchpin.
Although the story is set during the Iraq War, the story is universal one for returning soldiers in modern America. While every veteran’s experience is unique, the film points to some significant weaknesses in the country’s treatment of those who served in war. The U.S. military is very good at war but THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE makes clear it needs some improvement in how those who served are returned to civilian life.
Oscar-nominated screenwriter Jason Hall adapted David Finkel’s book Thank You For Your Service, about the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder syndrome that is becoming a major issue for vets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The film version of THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE starring Haley Bennett, Miles Teller and newcomer Beulah Koale, opens this Friday, with Hall behind the camera as director as well as screenwriter. Hall’s next project is The Virginian, about the young George Washington. Hall’s ambition is to show Washington as a rough man driven by extreme ambition in a violent frontier, and the film will show how one man’s battle to conquer himself enabled him to liberate a nation.
Jason Hall was in town recently promoting THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE and answered some questions for We Are Movie Geeks.
We Are Movie Geeks: Do you think that soldiers who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan or damaged mentally in a distinct way as opposed to soldiers who came back from other wars?
Jason Hall: The majority of the soldiers come home and they are not damaged. To look at our soldiers, you have to say that these guys are assets, but one out of four of these guys come home and they have some sort of PTS. The distinct difference between this and, say Vietnam, are the blast waves. Once you start dealing with the IED’s and the way that that affects the brain and of the trauma, is closer to World War One with all the shelling in the concussive nature of that. It’s not the explosion that does the most damage. It’s the blast wave, a wave that comes at you at the speed of sound that’s like a brick wall.
WAMG: I recently saw a film called LAST FLAG FLYING about three Vietnam vets reflecting on their service decades later and some of their regrets about being drug addicts during the war and catching STDs in whore houses in Vietnam.
JH: Yes I think the differences between what these guys experienced and with the guys in Nam experienced could fill a book. There was a lot of boredom. You see things in the movies that are very exciting and visceral but there was a lot of downtime for these guys. A lot of times they would drive around and they wouldn’t even see the enemy, or see who’s shooting at them, or see who’s trying to blow them up. It seemed to them like they were fighting an invisible enemy. Or they were disguised or dressed like civilians. It’s a real challenge to know who you’re fighting.
WAMG: As a director, what did you learn from working with Clint Eastwood?
JH: Clint is such a personality. I guess I was the first writer that he let stick around. I was around for the entire shooting of the film. He was so generous with me. He would ask my opinion about things, which is not a common character trait for him. Such a charming guy and what I learned from him to just keep it loose and being flexible. If he has any instinctive idea, he would just take change the tone of a scene or turn it on its head and goes in a different direction. What I learned from Clint too is truth. Clint is always trying to put truth up on the screen. That’s his whole goal. That differs from Spielberg in the sense that Spielberg is about trying to make the audience feel from a scene while Clint wants to give us the truth about a scene. Two different ways and very interesting for me to have experienced both schools of thought.
WAMG: Who would you love to see star in your George Washington project?
JH: Whoever I can get that mostly resembles that young George Washington. But he was 22 at the time of the story that I’m telling so that could be a challenge
(L to R) Adam Schumann (MILES TELLER), Solo Aeiti (BEULAH KOALE) and Will Waller (JOE COLE) in DreamWorks Pictures’ “Thank You for Your Service.”
Universal Pictures and AMC Theatres have announced that, on October 26, up to 10,000 free tickets will be presented to U.S. veterans and active-duty servicemembers for DreamWorks Pictures’ Thank You for Your Service — at more than 400 AMC locations nationwide. Each of the first 25 servicemembers (per location) with valid, government-issued ID who request a ticket will be given one free admission to the 7:00 p.m. preview screening.
From the writer of American Sniper and the studio that brought you Lone Survivor, the film follows a group of U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq who struggle to integrate back into family and civilian life, while living with the memory of a war that threatens to destroy them long after they’ve left the battlefield. Thank You for Your Service arrives in theatres nationwide on October 27.
The promotion will be available at all AMC Theatres playing Thank You for Your Service. Free tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis and may only be picked up at the AMC box office on October 26. Each guest must present a valid government-issued military ID to receive their ticket, with a limit of one free ticket for each military ID presented, while supplies last. This offer is valid for the 7:00 p.m. showing of the film on October 26, only.
“Once we began a discussion with AMC about how we could embody the spirit and message of Thank You for Your Service, they stepped up to the plate in a major way,” said Jim Orr, Executive Vice President, General Sales Manager, Universal Pictures. “We are honored that up to 10,000 U.S. veterans and active servicemembers will be among the first to experience this riveting film from our partners at DreamWorks.”
“Thank You for Your Service reminds us all of the tremendous sacrifice made by America’s servicemembers and their families,” said Elizabeth Frank, EVP Worldwide Programming and Chief Content Officer, AMC Theatres. “AMC is pleased to partner with Universal Pictures to offer veterans and active servicemembers the opportunity to attend this preview screening at no charge.”
DreamWorks Pictures’ Thank You for Your Service follows a group of U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq who struggle to integrate back into family and civilian life, while living with the memory of a war that threatens to destroy them long after they’ve left the battlefield.
Starring an ensemble cast led by Miles Teller, Haley Bennett, Joe Cole, Amy Schumer, Beulah Koale, Scott Haze, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Brad Beyer, Omar J. Dorsey and Jayson Warner Smith, the drama is based on the bestselling book by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author David Finkel.
Jason Hall, who wrote the screenplay of American Sniper, makes his directorial debut with Thank You for Your Service and also serves as its screenwriter. Jon Kilik (The Hunger Games series, Babel) produces the film.
Here’s yet another “inspired by true events” film , just in time for the somber Fall season. Somber, the right word for this one. Unlike this weekend’s other non-fiction flicks, it’s set in the not too distant past, not decades ago, but in this decade, the 2010’s. It concerns a group of men who regularly risk their lives, and often make the ultimate sacrifice, in order to protect their fellow men. And it shines a light on the families that must stay behind and hope that all goes well. You may be thinking that’s it’s another those on the front line, our soldiers overseas sagas as in the films THE HURT LOCKER and AMERICAN SNIPER. Well, these heroes aren’t on foreign soil, though they are on the front line, one made of flame. And with their special clothing and gear ,they could be mistaken for soldiers. Rather they are firefighters, but they aren’t roaring down the street on a fire truck, dalmatian in tow, ready to climb the ladder to a “towering inferno”. These guys fight the fires that consume forests, hoping to stop their journey before the flames reach the towns and cities. Such is the mission of the Granite Mountain Hotshots from the Prescott Arizona Fire Department. ONLY THE BRAVE fill their ranks.
Nearly ten years ago, Eric Marsh (Josh Brolin) bolts upright in bed after a nightmare. It’s the usual scenario that involves a charging bear on fire, an “ursine torch”. For his wife, horse trainer Amanda (Jennifer Connelly), this is fairly common. He then leaves for work as the captain to a squad of firefighters, a hand crew that goes into to stop wildfires, who report to the Fire Chief Duane Steinbrink (Jeff Bridges). They do the “grunt ” work and the prep for nearby towns. But Marsh wants his crew to become officially accredited by the state of Arizona, to become “hotshots”. But he needs to beef up their ranks, so he begins interviews and try outs. One hopeful is Brendan McDononugh (Miles Teller), a directionless twenty-something who retreated to the bottle and the bong after flunking out of some training courses. He’s just found out that a former fling is pregnant with his child, which spurs him to get his “act” together. After surviving an arduous hike, Marsh decides to take a chance on Brendan. As the months past, he rises to the challenge and even bonds with a former tormentor, Christopher (Taylor Kitsch). Eventually the team earns their accreditation, and Eric dubs them the Granite Mountain Hotshots. They become a proficient, well-oiled machine, starting controlled fires to stop the approaching flames while digging trenches to contain the spread. This leads up to a fateful day in June of 2013 when the Hotshots are called in to stop a lightning fire at Yarnell Hill. This routine assignment soon becomes a desperate fight for survival.
With his squinty gaze and stern growl, Brolin is a leader of men in the Clint Eastwood/ Kurt Russell mold (almost a brother to Kurt’s DEEPWATER HORIZON role). He’s tough, but he’s got a soft spot for lost causes, which would aptly describe Teller’s Brendan when we first meet him. Much like his roles in WHIPLASH and BLEED FOR THIS, Teller’s Brendan is another fella’ full of determination, though here we see a bit of his tender side as he tries to be a good father to his unexpected arrival. And there’s quite a father/son bond between his character and Marsh (we never see Brendan’s pop, only his ma’). The mother to all the crew may be Connelly’s Amanda who goes toe-to-toe with Eric while fighting despair as he trudges off in his gear, perhaps never to return. I suppose this would make Bridges the grandfather-figure, full of support and encouragement, trying to calm Eric’s frustrations. And Bridges gets to indulge in the drawling, “chaw-filled”, jaw-jutting delivery that we’ve seen many, many times ( TRUE GRIT, HELL OR HIGH WATER, R.I.P.D). His anchor at home is the criminally underused Andie MacDowell, so fiesty and funny (and sexy) in MAGIC MIKE XXL, but here regulated to comforting Connelly and being a sounding board for Bridges. Among the assorted fire house “beefcake”, James Badge Dale is a most able second-in command, while Kitsch as plenty a good ole’ boy charisma as the “heart of gold” Christopher.
The fire fighting profession hasn’t been exploited often by the movies, despite the compelling cinematic nature of the raging flames, here a destructive charging beast. Of course, film buffs will harken back to Ron Howard’s BACKDRAFT (though there’s no arson mystery here) or that all-star disaster epic that was producer Irwin Allen’s THE TOWERING INFERNO. But the whole Eric/Brendan theme reminded me of the near 50 year-old HELLFIGHTERS with John Wayne (yeah, the Duke) working with the cocky Jim Hutton. So why isn’t this flick as exciting as those earlier entries? Perhaps it’s because director Joseph Kosinski (OBLIVION) keeps hammering in the symbolism of that burning bear (three times). Or maybe it’s because the script by Ken Nolan and Eric Warren Singer (based on the GQ magazine article by Sean Flynn) spends far too much time on domestic drama and not enough on the fiery fields. They even resort to some clunky “two men and a baby” hijinks at one point. Plus the big verbal throw-down between Eric and Amanda doesn’t ring true (angry because he’s not starting a family with her) and feels more than a tad sexist. This leaves only about 20 minutes of the 133 minute running time for actually fighting fires. The story of the “screw-up” who redeems himself to the guys has been a cliché in war flicks for years (I almost expected one of the crew to be nicknamed “Brooklyn”). The men portrayed are real heroes, true lifesavers who deserved a better celebration and tribute than this lackluster and tedious tale. ONLY THE BRAVE just has little spark.
Brendan McDonough (Miles Teller), Chris MacKenzie (Taylor Kitsch), plan to do the backburn at the Chiricahua Mtn. fireline in Columbia Pictures’ ONLY THE BRAVE, THE TRUE STORY OF THE GRANITE MOUNTAIN HOTSHOTS.
All men are created equal… then, a few become firefighters.
Columbia Pictures has released the first trailer for director Joseph Kosinski’s ONLY THE BRAVE.
ONLY THE BRAVE, based on the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, is the heroic story of one unit of local firefighters that through hope, determination, sacrifice, and the drive to protect families, communities, and our country become one of the most elite firefighting teams in the country.
As most of us run from danger, they run toward it – they watch over our lives, our homes, everything we hold dear, as they forge a unique brotherhood that comes into focus with one fateful fire.
Based upon the GQ Article “No Exit” by Sean Flynn.
Starring Josh Brolin, Miles Teller, Jeff Bridges, James Badge Dale with Taylor Kitsch and Jennifer Connelly, ONLY THE BRAVE opens in theaters on October 20, 2017.
“Supe” Eric Marsh (Josh Brolin) berates Brendan McDonough (Miles Teller) during training in Prescott National Forest in Columbia Pictures’ ONLY THE BRAVE, THE TRUE STORY OF THE GRANITE MOUNTAIN HOTSHOTS.
“Supe” Eric Marsh (Josh Brolin) leads the Granite Mountain Hotshots up the trail at Yarnell Hills–including, generally in this order: Travis Carter (Scott Foxx), Dustin Deford (Ryan Busch), Garret Zuppiger (Brandon Bunch), Andrew Ashcraft (Alex Russell), Wade Parker (Ben Hardy), Scott Norris (producer Thad Luckinbill), Anthony Rose (Jake Picking), Travis Turbyfill (Geoff Stults), Chris MacKenzie (Taylor Kitsch), Brendan McDonough (Miles Teller), Joe Thurston (Matthew Van Wettering), Kevin Woyjeck (Michael McNulty), Grant McKee (Sam Quinn), Billy Warneke (Ryan Jason Cook), John Percin, Jr. (Nicholas Jenks), Sean Misner (Kenny Miller), Robert Caldwell (Dylan Kenin), Clayton Whitted (Scott Haze), Jesse Steed (James Badge Dale) in Columbia Pictures’ ONLY THE BRAVE, THE TRUE STORY OF THE GRANITE MOUNTAIN HOTSHOTS.
“Supe” Eric Marsh (Josh Brolin) and Amanda Marsh (Jennifer Connelly) in Columbia Pictures’ ONLY THE BRAVE, THE TRUE STORY OF THE GRANITE MOUNTAIN HOTSHOTS.
“Supe” Eric Marsh (Josh Brolin) and Fire Chief Duane Steinbrink (Jeff Bridges) in Columbia Picturs’ ONLY THE BRAVE, THE TRUE STORY OF THE GRANITE MOUNTAIN HOTSHOTS.
DreamWorks Pictures has released a first look at their upcoming film THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.
The drama follows a group of U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq who struggle to integrate back into family and civilian life, while living with the memory of a war that threatens to destroy them long after they’ve left the battlefield.
Starring an ensemble cast led by Miles Teller, Haley Bennett, Joe Cole, Amy Schumer, Beulah Koale, Scott Haze, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Brad Beyer, Omar J. Dorsey and Jayson Warner Smith, the drama is based on the bestselling book by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author David Finkel.
Jason Hall, who wrote the screenplay of AMERICAN SNIPER, makes his directorial debut with THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE and also serves as its screenwriter.
Book synopsis:
No journalist has reckoned with the psychology of war as intimately as David Finkel. In The Good Soldiers, his bestselling account from the front lines of Baghdad, Finkel embedded with the men of the 2-16 Infantry Battalion as they carried out the infamous “surge,” a grueling fifteen-month tour that changed them all forever.
In Thank You for Your Service, Finkel follows many of those same men as they return home and struggle to reintegrate―both into their family lives and into American society at large. He is with them in their most intimate, painful, and hopeful moments as they try to recover, and in doing so, he creates an indelible, essential portrait of what life after war is like―not just for these soldiers, but for their wives, widows, children, and friends, and for the professionals who are truly trying, and to a great degree failing, to undo the damage that has been done. Thank You for Your Service is an act of understanding, and it offers a more complete picture than we have ever had of two essential questions: When we ask young men and women to go to war, what are we asking of them? And when they return, what are we thanking them for?
Jon Kilik (The Hunger Games series, Babel) produces the film, while Ann Ruark (Biutiful) executive produces.
Universal Pictures will release the film October 27.
Let’s return to the ring once more for another true life tale of triumph and tragedy all set in the world of the “sweet science”. Almost a year ago movie audiences were cheering on a re-invention of the fiction franchise began by ROCKY with the spin-off CREED. And just a few months ago we watched the rags to riches to rags true tale of Roberto Duran in HANDS OF STONE. Now, or should I say, “…and in this corner”, is the saga of Vinnie Pazienza, a scrappy young fighter from a working class East Coast neighborhood. Ah, but he’s not just fighting other contenders. No, his story mixes the standard sports flick with the “struggling against a devastating medical crisis” drama. It’s a story so incredible that it has to be true (who could make it up?), as Vinnie shows the world that to defy the odds you’ve got to be prepared to BLEED FOR THIS.
The film begins right at the hight of Vinnie Pazienza’s career on the eve of a title bout in Las Vegas circa 1988. Vinnie AKA the “Pazmanian Devil” (Miles Teller) frantically tries to “make-weight” (sweat off the final pounds) as his manager/father Angelo (Ciaran Hinds) and manager/ trainer Lou Duva (Ted Levine) stall at the press conference “weigh in” for the big fight with Roger Mayweather. He barely makes it there before being disqualified. Now anyone else would head back to their suite to rest up for the big bout the next day. Oh no, not Vinnie. After evading his support team, he and his flashy young girlfriend head down to the casino for a full night of drinking and gambling. And somehow he’s victorious a few hours later. After a heated argument over the next big fight, Lou recommends that Vinnie begin raining with Mike Tyson’s former mentor Kevin Rooney (Aaron Eckhart). Rooney battles his own demons (too fond of the “grape”), but he guides Vinnie to defend his title. Then the unthinkable happens. Vinnie and a pal are in a horrific auto accident. He suffers a catastrophic injury, basically a broken neck, and doctors offer him little hope of recovery. He could walk again, but his career is over, or so they say. The healing effort involves outfitting Vinnie with the “halo”, a metal ring literally screwed into his skull that will support his spine. The “Paz” is so frustrated that the frequent visits to local strip clubs provide no pleasure (the same for home visits from the “talent”). Then he discovers the old weight lifting equipment gathering dust in the basement. Hiding from his family and waking up in the pre-dawn hours, he slowly begins to work-out. Eventually he shares his secret with Rooney. As the time for the halo’s removal approaches, Vinnie announces that he will fight again. But if he can climb back into the ring, will anyone want to go up against him and risk putting Vinnie down for the count…forever?
Teller adds another colorful character to his impressive resume with the flamboyant trash-talking bruiser. Vinnie’s a motor-mouthed party animal much of the time, but during the grueling hours of training, Teller shows us a bit of his sadness, that he believes that he deserves the brutal punishment, even as his crew tries to convince him otherwise. After the crash, Teller gives us a much humbler Vinnie, quiet, pensive, finally unsure of his abilities until he endures the ultimate punishment (try not to squirm as the halo is slooowly removed, aarghh!!). With his paunch and bald pate, Eckhart (terrific in the recent SULLY) dives into a rich character role, one far removed from his leading man “square-jawed” leads. His Rooney is a man of few words, but Eckhart lets us in on his smouldering frustrations, perhaps at seeing others reap the rewards of his efforts, seething until the only way to extinguish the fire is with booze. He’s also the nurturing father figure that Vinnie needs, as his own pop, played with loud gusto by Hines, seems to be the conductor of the “Paz” gravy train. But the crash effects him also and Hines shows us a man who realizes that his son is more important than the “flash” and fame. His character is the opposite of his spouse Louise, played with quiet dignity by Katey Sagal in a performance so different from her brassy, bawdy TV roles. She adores her children so much that she banishes herself to a “prayer closet” rather than join her family to watch Vinnie’s televised bouts, her boy’s pain is too much for her.
Director Ben Younger, helming his own screenplay with a story assist from Angelo Pizzo and Pippa Bianco, tells this story with few distracting flourishes and effects, presenting a fairly straight timeline of events and incidents, even giving us title cards (“three months since accident”). He does make some interesting choices with the soundtrack, often taking out the background noise and chatter to let us hear the pounding buzz or the silence happening to Vinnie, whether in the ring or being carting down the hospital hallway. Though his story’s not been told before, much of the film seems too familiar. The family sequences take bits of RAGING BULL and THE FIGHTER, while the training scenes could easily have come from SOUTHPAW and CREED. Speaking of that flick, Vinnie’s bouts have none of the “in your face” energy generated by Ryan Coolger’s innovative in-the-ring camera technique.They’re servicable but not spectacular. And hey, Roberto Duran is a character in two movies this year, as he faces off against Vinnie in the big comeback match. The spine injury subplot gives the film a usnusal twist, but despite the excellent work from Teller and Eckhart, BLEED FOR THIS brings very little to the movie fight game. It scores a few good jabs, but it’s far from a knockout.
Starring Miles Teller, Aaron Eckhart, Katey Sagal, and Ted Levine, BLEED FOR THIS will now hit theaters November 18th. Check out the trailer for the incredible true story of one of the most inspiring and unlikely comebacks in sports history.
BLEED FOR THIS is the incredible true story of one of the most inspiring and unlikely comebacks in sports history. Miles Teller (Whiplash, Divergent) stars as Vinny “The Pazmanian Devil” Pazienza, a local Providence boxer who shot to stardom after winning two world title fights. After a near-fatal car accident leaves Vinny with a severed spine, he is told he may never walk again. Against all odds and doctor’s orders, renowned trainer Kevin Rooney (Aaron Eckhart) agrees to help Vinny return to the ring just a year after the accident for what could be the last fight of his life.
