Critic Reviews
| 90 |
Los Angeles Times
This altogether remarkable film is as much of a paradox as Nong Toom: at once poetic and sensitive yet as gritty and hard-hitting as any boxing movie.
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| 80 |
Film Threat
James Wegg
A magical vision of the ring of the imagination.
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| 80 |
The Hollywood Reporter
Ekachai's film takes a more compassionate view of its subject and boasts a dynamic performance by real-life kickboxer Asanee Suwan.
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| 75 |
San Francisco Chronicle
Unique.
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| 75 |
New York Post
An intelligent work that avoids exploitation and cheap laughs.
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| 70 |
TV Guide
Like his intrepid hero, theater-turned-film director Ekachai Uekrongtham never misses an opportunity to brighten an otherwise ordinary palette with just a bit more color.
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| 70 |
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Uekrongtham films the saga in gorgeous style.
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| 70 |
Variety
Russell Edwards
Sweetly entertaining but bland biopic.
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| 70 |
Chicago Reader
Uekrongtham handles the material with reasonable restraint, and you can't help but cheer on the hero.
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| 67 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Rich with insight and cinematic style and beauty, the film tells a uniquely moving and inspiring story. Unfortunately, it takes some stamina to distill its message from its overly long, overindulgent love affair with itself.
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| 63 |
New York Daily News
Though a bit long and occasionally awkward, this drama ultimately does justice to its inspiration - the true-life tale of boxer-turned-transsexual Nong Toom.
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| 60 |
The New York Times
A rare hybrid: an underdog sports picture that's also a transgender fairy tale.
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| 60 |
LA Weekly
It’s a good story, and Uekrongtham, making his feature debut, captures the camaraderie of camp life and the subsequent matches with the panache of a veteran studio hand, but the insights into Toom's psyche never extend past the fun he has applying powder and eyeliner.
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| 50 |
Village Voice
Chuck Stephens
Those in search of a liberating treatise about empowered sexuality may find too much of the movie's erotic potential sublimated in sports metaphors, while those looking for a martial arts matinee will find its feats of physical prowess shriveled next to a fully engorged genre workout like "Ong-Bak."
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