No. The other one. It would be slightly inaccurate of me to call Ridley Scott's Roman masterpiece 'under appreciated'. When I say Gladiator, I am, of course, referring to the gritty 1992 boxing drama starring James Marshall (he of Twin Peaks) and Cuba Gooding Jnr (pre-Jerry Macguire Oscar glory).
It's the tale of a down-on-his-luck, poor, white teen who moves to Chicago with his dad, from a 'nice place'. With his father always out on the road trying to earn back money, trying to pay off his extensive gambling debts, Tommy starts at his new rough, inner city school and instantly falls foul of the local gang members. Then he attracts the attention of one of the promoters of the local underground boxing circuit.
Just typing that premise makes me realise it's a miracle I even watched this formulaic movie. But watch it I have and love it I do. Where new action directors of the time used smoke machines and neon in every frame, Rowdy Herrington goes for an ahead-of-it's-time, bleached colours, gritty approach. The story moves at a swift pace and there's plenty of grounded drama to hold the attention. The cast are mostly to be credited with this. As Tommy, James Marshall plays him as the quiet, unassuming man-with-no-name...not entering into conversation or being drawn into confrontation until it's absolutely necessary to do so. Fortunately he's got enough screen presence to pull the internal, introverted character off. Robert Loggia chews the scenery as the promoter while Cuba Gooding Jnr is his usual charismatic self as a fellow boxer. Finally The Big Boss is played by the mighty Brian Dennehy, as imposing an opponent here as he was in the classic First Blood.
The icing on the cakes comes in the form of a cool Brad Fiedel score (he of Terminator fame) which provides a contemporary vibe which stops things from getting too 'Rocky'...and the pop/rock soundtrack which contains some cool Warrent and Adamski tracks.
A great little movie this...one that's far more entertaining in the flesh than it is described here. Seek and thee shall be rewarded!
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