Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher
A bantamweight biog of England’s youngest boxing champ is anything but a knockout.
Lord of the ring: Matt Hookings (left) and Ricky Chaplin
Jem Belcher is but a footnote in the history of sport. Yet in his day he acquired such soubriquets as ‘the Champion of England’ and ‘the Napoleon of the Ring’ and was referenced by both Charles Dickens (in The Old Curiosity Shop) and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Now the actor Matt Hookings has done a Sylvester Stallone and written his own screenplay about the boxer, casting himself in the title role. His story opens in 1789 in Bristol, where the young Jem forces his way through a melee to witness his grandfather Jack Slack beat an opponent to pulp in a bare-knuckle contest. Young Jem is told that boxing is in his blood and so he evolves from a victim of street bullies, to a blacksmith, to a pugilist with a speed and focus that blindsides his challengers.
Much is made of Jem’s good looks, so the fact that Hookings looks more like Zac Efron than Stallone is duly accounted for. In fact, the director Daniel Graham goes to great pains to make his movie look as pretty as the period will allow, with no shaft of sunlight overlooked. There is a plethora of filters, plunging the palette from ochre to sepia with a doggedness that would have made Rembrandt proud. Indeed, everything about Graham’s film is stated in capital letters, so that the acting looks like acting and the dialogue sounds like dialogue. Pity poor Steven Berkoff who has to deliver a line like, “embrace the sovereignty of your own mind!” But it is Ray Winstone who is handed the most dog-eared dialogue, explaining to Jem that, “the eyes are the window to a man’s soul.” Actually, Winstone comes off best here, playing Jem’s trainer with both a world-weary affection and cynicism. And he raises a laugh during the obligatory training montage, yelling at Jem: “You’re running like my muvver!”
Too often Prizefighter: The Life of Jim Belcher feels like it was whipped up for a slot on Sunday afternoon TV, and the title doesn’t help. The production history is now legion, necessitating a year’s delay and a pot pourri of locations from Wales and Lithuania to Malta. Russell Crowe, who at times seems interchangeable from Ray Winstone, provides one of his entertaining accents (West Country?) and up-ends the movie with his stellar status. Jodhi May, as Jem’s mother Mary, is even more unfortunate, trapped with a fixed expression of grim disapproval, while Hookings fails to invest his protagonist with any discernible depth of humanity. Somewhere in the ring is an interesting story fighting for air, but one that is undercut by a technical knockout.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Matt Hookings, Ray Winstone, Marton Csokas, Jodhi May, Steven Berkoff, Julian Glover, Russell Crowe, Ricky Chaplin, Lucy Martin, Stanley Morgan, Olivia Chenery, Joe Egan, Noeleen Comiskey, Spike Howells, Julius Francis, Billy Clements.
Dir Daniel Graham, Pro Chris Hardman, Matt Hookings, Nate Bolotin, Michael Breen, Alastair Burlingham, Maxime Cottray, Catherine D'Arcy, Kathleen Debrincat, Maria Dent, Steve Dent, Charlie Dombek, Charles Dorfman, Kestutis Drazdauskas, Jay Gill, Marc Goldberg, Elvin Juan Gukhool, Peter Hampden, Richard Holmes, Sonja Klaus, Krystian Kozlowski, Tai Lopez, Norman Merr, Paul Parker, Daniel Pittack, Gary Raskin, Keith Rodger, Urte Vaicekauskaite, Marlon Vogelgesang, Alexa Waugh and Elizabeth Williams, Screenplay Matt Hookings, Ph Ben Brahem Ziryab, Pro Des Sonja Klaus, Ed Chris Gill, Music Paul Saunderson, Costumes Hayley Nebauer, Sound Glenn Freemantle, Fight choreography Billy Clements, Dialect coach Ryan O'Grady.
XYZ Films/Camelot Films/Hardman Pictures-Signature Entertainment/Amazon Studios.
106 mins. UK. 2022. UK and US Rel: 22 July 2022. Available on Amazon Prime. Cert. 15.
