The Boxer

Jim Sheridan makes films about the complicated political and emotional stakes of Ireland and refuses to simplify them for easy consumption. The Boxer takes a hard look at the IRA during a time of momentary peace, and explores the delicate balancing act it takes to keep it going. It also combines the general overview of a sports movie, but eschews the simple storytelling devices in favor of crafting something more cerebral in the process.

Daniel Day-Lewis plays a former IRA man/boxer who is being released after fourteen years in prison. Returning to his Belfast home, he finds the head of the IRA (Brian Cox) trying to orchestrate a lasting peace, his former love (Emily Watson), and a wild card (Gerard McSorley) who wants to watch it all burn down. If The Boxer sounds overstuffed, well, it is, because we haven’t even mentioned the subplot involving Day-Lewis getting together with his former manager (Ken Stott) to build a gymnasium for students of all faiths.

When a movie is this smart, and works so well, it pains me to say that The Boxer might have too much of a good thing going with all of these plot strands. The film doesn’t truly need the one about the gymnasium, and it often times feels like it only exists to act as a visualization of a ticking time bomb, without actually seeing a bomb count down. It also doesn’t help that this particular strand is the least interesting of the four going on. Watson and Day-Lewis bring a tremendous amount of soul, depth and heart to their tenuous romance, both knowing that is forbidden and punishable by death according to the rules of the IRA, yet seemingly drawn to each other. And Cox plays his figurehead with a mixture of brevity, strength, sadness and tiredness, this is a man who has killed, ordered killings, seen far too much death, and wants the cycle to stop. While McSorley just wants to watch everything burn in order to ease the pain of losing a child during The Troubles.

It’s a strong ensemble working with great material. Sheridan’s direction is appropriately solid, and his script, co-written with Terry George, is novel-like, exploring the internal lives of these characters and their world. It develops them with a steady hand and gives them smart choices to make, finding a way to handle delicate subject matter with intelligence, poise and a strong sense of craft. Granted, the boxing stuff is exciting to watch, but it feels like needless distractions from the interior politics of the IRA, the deadly romance, and the quiet strength and passion of a man trying in his own to make things right and atone for the misdeeds of his youth.