It's a B movie with a strong right hook, still I like it. Other strong hooks include Terrance Howard and Luis Guzman, but though very subtle, Channing Tatum delievers a solid performance as well. I remember being impressed with him in Step Up. I wrote in the review of that film that he lit up the screen with charisma, believability, authenticity and some really great dancing. Substitute fighting for dancing and here we are. That said, it's the interactions that carry "Fighting" much more than the fists. The vulnerability behind the tough smarts or tough arms is what makes the film worth seeing. The fight scenes are visceral, blunt, and starkly hard hitting without dominating the picture. Paced very nicely and directly cleanly, "Fighting" isn't at all a bad film.

However, a preponderances of coincidental chance meetings undermines the seriousness of the picture. That combined with the unsubstantiated trust Tatum's character extends to Howard's sets the story off on shaky footing.

Huge kudos to the small role actress who played the grandmother. In a short kitchen sequence, she tears it up and steals the show. Her presence is both wonderfully quirky and fiercely real. This is no Fight Club, but you may find yourself rooting for the young New York street fighter in the same way you cheered on Rocky.

-- Books by Author/Illustrator Ross Anthony --