Film Review: DAY OF THE FIGHT (2023): Jack Huston’s Remarkably Shot Film is An Intriguing Character Study
Day of the Fight Review
Day of the Fight (2023) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Jack Huston and starring Michael Pitt, Steve Buscemi, Joe Pesci, John Magaro, Ron Perlman, Nicolette Robinson, Anatol Yusef, Kaili Vernoff, Morgan Craft, Tom Johnson, Leo Solomon, Tim Gallin, Billy Griffith, Dina Khoury, Jordyn Rax, Milan Marsh, Phillip Johnson Richardson and Dennis Jay Funny.
Filmmaker Jack Huston’s black and white character study, Day of the Fight, can remind one of the great works of directors like Martin Scorsese, and to a lesser extent, maybe of a movie Spike Lee could have directed. It is that authenticity factor that you don’t see every day in a movie that works in this film’s favor. This new picture is led by a top notch performance from Michael Pitt as a fighter named Mike Flannigan. The movie traces Mike’s life as he is out of prison and trying to make peace with those in his life as he prepares for a match that will hopefully set him up with a set of appealing life options afterwards. The beauty of the movie is how it zeroes in on the ordinary aspects of its characters and the way their daily endeavors are fulfilled. All the while the picture shines in making us invested in Mike as a character.
Black and white is a choice that far less filmmakers use these days than in the past and Day of the Fight gives us an old school vibe with the photography which is very crisp and appealing to watch for this particular story. Mike feels like an “average Joe.” The black and white helps solidify that impression. We meet his uncle (indie film veteran Steve Buscemi) who sympathizes with Mike’s predicament and tries to help him along. Mike has suffered a lot since the death of his mom and pawns off a ring for $7K which he plans to put towards a big bet. He places a bet with a man named Saul (Anatol Yusef) in which the winning prize would be $400,000. That money could go a long way to redeem Mike in so many ways though the likelihood of winning the prize feels very slim.
Day of the Fight is like a great American novel told through cinematic measures. Mike visits a food truck where he shoots the shit with the girl on it, Tracy, who he knows and is played by Kaili Vernoff. Tracy gives him his food for free but Mike leaves a $100 tip in the jar for her when she turns away. Mike also tips a musician who he encounters as well. Then, Mike later associates with a young girl named Sam (Milan Marsh) with whom he shares some brief words. This is all like a poem where aspects of Mike are displayed on screen through his interaction with the characters he meets.
Joe Pesci pops up as Mike’s dad who is now stricken with Alzheimer’s disease. Pesci’s character sits in a chair while Mike talks to him about life and how they’ve been treated by it. Pesci also served as an executive producer on the movie and it’s great to see him working on a film like this one which tells such an intriguing story about the journey of a man who has a family yet feels all alone because of his circumstances. Mike sees his daughter and meets with his wife, Jessica (a great Nicolette Robinson), too, but it seems there’s a disconnect despite the honest connection he has with his family. Perhaps that disconnect is Mike’s poor life choices which have altered his life. It’s hard to pinpoint at first, exactly, but we learn why Mike is fighting and what, exactly, he’s hoping to accomplish.
Michael Pitt delivers a brave performance fitting for a movie star. Pitt can easily keep us watching and understanding Mike even if we don’t necessarily agree with his life choices. We respect him and that is what makes the movie so entertaining to watch. Ron Perlman as his trainer, Stevie, is also larger than life as Stevie tries to steer Mike towards making the right decisions such as when Mike takes on a jerk of a boxer in their gym before his main fight. Perlman’s performance is a genuinely compelling one. In addition, as a priest/old friend of Mike’s, John Magaro also shines, adding layers to his well-defined character which is another admirable supporting role in a cast full of talent.
Though there are some problems here, they are offset by the quality of the acting and the film-making. It’s hard to understand some of the choices Mike makes at first until one places his or herself in Mike’s situation. Only then, can one understand why he does what he does in the picture.
Jack Huston shows tremendous skills through his direction of Day of the Fight. The choice of images helps shape the characters while the dialogue (or lack thereof in some scenes) is more than sufficient to define who these people he portrays are and what their motivations are in life. Day of the Fight doesn’t offer any easy solutions to the dilemmas it proposes. It has complexity that reminds one of a film by Scorsese or Lee while being more accessible than it could have been in a different director’s hands. Huston wrote the script and made the right choice to direct it because it’s a writer’s movie where the characterizations have to be on-the-money for the film to work. Day of the Fight ultimately works well and is a solid film.
Rating: 7/10
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