nolanfan34
06-06-2005, 03:16 PM
I haven't seen anyone post a review yet on OOT, so here goes.
I liked it a lot. I had read The Sports Guy's review of it on ESPN.com, so my expectations were not particularly high.
But I think he was nit-picking. The boxing scenes are pretty exciting I think, and yeah, the action is fast and it's hard to tell who is hitting who in a few shots, but it's pretty easy to understand. I mean, you know the results of the bouts already, and Howard still makes them exciting.
The script isn't anything phenomonal, and the acting is solid but not spectacular. Would it surprise me if it gets some Oscar love? No. Do I think it's a groundbreaking Oscar worthy movie? No. Is it entertaining and a good story? Yes, for sure.
Paul Giamatti is very good in the manager role. Renee Chesney does Renee things, and is solid in the wet blanket wife role. The guy who plays Max Baer is pretty funny, and very scary when he's pissed in the ring.
And of course Crowe is great. I don't know how much of the boxing scenes were actually him, but he does a great job again of making you believe him in his role - I never looked at him on the screen and thought of his past roles, which is unavoidable with someone like George Clooney, who only is capable of playing one character.
And to answer the spoiler question someone posted a few days ago, the Louis fight is mentioned at the end, but not shown.
I liked it a lot. I had read The Sports Guy's review of it on ESPN.com, so my expectations were not particularly high.
But I think he was nit-picking. The boxing scenes are pretty exciting I think, and yeah, the action is fast and it's hard to tell who is hitting who in a few shots, but it's pretty easy to understand. I mean, you know the results of the bouts already, and Howard still makes them exciting.
The script isn't anything phenomonal, and the acting is solid but not spectacular. Would it surprise me if it gets some Oscar love? No. Do I think it's a groundbreaking Oscar worthy movie? No. Is it entertaining and a good story? Yes, for sure.
Paul Giamatti is very good in the manager role. Renee Chesney does Renee things, and is solid in the wet blanket wife role. The guy who plays Max Baer is pretty funny, and very scary when he's pissed in the ring.
And of course Crowe is great. I don't know how much of the boxing scenes were actually him, but he does a great job again of making you believe him in his role - I never looked at him on the screen and thought of his past roles, which is unavoidable with someone like George Clooney, who only is capable of playing one character.
And to answer the spoiler question someone posted a few days ago, the Louis fight is mentioned at the end, but not shown.