The Boxer

I'm a big fan of Irish writer-director Jim Sheridan... his films are dramatic in the most non-melodramatic way, and they sometimes feature Daniel Day-Lewis, which is enough to sell any film to the likes of me. 'The Boxer' is the fourth film in Sheridan's unconnected yet chronological examinations of the Irish. Taking it's lead from points touched on in the excellent 'In The Name of the Father', 'The Boxer' delves right into the muck of families amongst the IRA.

Danny (Day-Lewis) is a would-be professional boxer who emerges from a 15-year stint in gaol (courtesy of his teenaged involvement with the IRA) to an unwelcoming IRA-community. Unwilling to leave, he sets about restoring the local community centre, and rekindles a dangerous relationship with an old flame (Watson, once again proving herself to be one of the greatest unsung actresses of today). It's a tense situation that slowly boils to a crescendo of emotional power and violence.

Being the director's fourth film, it's obvious that he's more than in control of his craft. The film is compelling and effortlessly powerful, focusing on the effects of the IRA on the families around them, eschewing any unnecessary political debate in favour of show-don't-tell storytelling. The politics merely provide the backstory - no single film could possibly attempt to apologise or justify something so conflicted and complex as Irish political allegiances. Sheridan has also assembled a talented and relatively unknown cast to fill the other various important roles – international unsung Irish character-actors Gerard McSorley and Ken Stott give exceptional respective performances as IRA man Harry and alcoholic boxing coach Ike, and Brian Cox plays more sensitively than his craggy features usually allow him to. There are some great memorable scenes to be witnessed in 'The Boxer', and it's really a shame that Sheridan hasn't only done two films since.

HIGHLIGHTS: There's some beautifully understated imagery in one scene where the son of an imprisoned IRA man watches his mother through some wooden bars. The various IRA-orchestrated deaths stick in the head long after as well.

TRIVIA: As I mentioned before, Sheridan's first 4 films are all set in Ireland and run in chronological order... 'My Left Foot' is set in the 30s and 40s, 'The Field' is seems to be set in the 50s, 'In The Name of the Father’ in the 60s and 70s, and 'The Boxer' is set at it's time of release, the mid 90s.

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