| 91 |
Entertainment Weekly
While Rodriguez punches through the indie clutter to announce herself as a superb new movie talent, so Kusama scores big points in her first main event.
|
| 90 |
TNT RoughCut
Confirms its place as one of the best first films in recent memory, and one of this year's very best films.
|
| 88 |
Chicago Sun-Times
It's always about more than boxing.
|
| 88 |
New York Post
Refreshing and surprising, the way independent movies are supposed to be.
|
| 88 |
Charlotte Observer
The effect is as potent as a straight right to the solar plexus.
|
| 88 |
Boston Globe
A terrific little uppercut of a boxing movie and close to a perfect one.
|
| 83 |
Portland Oregonian
Rodriguez, who never acted before auditioning for the director, is utterly convincing, fluid and determined and jaded and wild like any teen-ager, but with a bracing spirit and a shocking store of ferocity.
|
| 80 |
Rolling Stone
A strong, stinging film, alive with conflicts that defy glib resolutions.
|
| 80 |
Time
Gives its fine actors room to breathe and behave--and in Michelle Rodriguez's case, glow.
|
| 80 |
Variety
Blends in a most satisfying manner the conventions of several genres, resulting in a coherent picture that is at once a poignant inner-city drama, a rousing sports movie, an emotional family yarn and, above all, a sweet romance.
|
| 80 |
The New York Times
The movie belongs to Ms. Rodriguez. With her slightly crooked nose and her glum, sensual mouth, she looks a little like Marlon Brando in his smoldering prime, and she has some of his slow, intense physicality. She doesn't so much transcend gender as redefine it.
|
| 80 |
Slate
Belongs to that most promiscuous of genres -- the go-for-it sports melodrama -- but transcends it and then some.
|
| 80 |
Village Voice
A near-irresistible button-pusher that's agile enough to hold a mirror to its own aspirations: The Sundance prize-winning filmmaker and her prize discovery, Michelle Rodriguez, merge in the image of a self-invented amateur boxer.
|
| 80 |
Washington Post
Luminously understated.
|
| 80 |
Los Angeles Times
A powerful and empathetic melodrama with feminist underpinnings.
|
| 80 |
Film.com
Held together by strong writing, insightful direction, and a stunning turn by newcomer Rodriguez, who is not only a gorgeous young woman but a fiercely charismatic screen presence.
|
| 75 |
New York Daily News
Uplifting and moving in a traditional Hollywood way, while also seeming as raw and unfiltered as cinema vérité.
|
| 75 |
Philadelphia Inquirer
Rodriguez is riveting, with a drop-dead cynical charm.
|
| 75 |
San Francisco Examiner
There's a sense of genuineness throughout Girlfight.
|
| 75 |
San Francisco Chronicle
The movie belongs to Rodriguez: A gorgeous woman with a powerful body and the face of an Aztec princess, she's also a natural talent who instinctively understands the importance of economy in good acting.
|
| 75 |
Miami Herald
Gets everything right.
|
| 75 |
USA Today
A coming-of-age tale that truly floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.
|
| 75 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
A genre-twisting surprise.
|
| 70 |
Chicago Reader
A persuasively feminine coming-of-age story.
|
| 70 |
TV Guide
Kusama's impressive feature debut is an affecting coming-of-age drama whose story is familiar without being hackneyed.
|
| 70 |
Washington Post
A scrappy independent film that packs the same emotional punch as "Rocky."
|
| 67 |
Austin Chronicle
A rousing, girl-positive, indie success story whose dynamic rhythms deliver a connecting punch.
|
| 63 |
Chicago Tribune
Girlfight, for its skill and theme, will please many. It's a shame it's no knockout.
|
| 60 |
Film.com
Kusama understands her subject intimately, and it shows.
|
| 50 |
LA Weekly
Kusama leads with feminist empowerment, but her sucker punch is a sappy romance.
|
| 50 |
Salon.com
A little more flair and polish could have made Girlfight a terrific movie instead of just the decent one it is.
|
| 50 |
Christian Science Monitor
Rodriguez's acting almost scores a knockout even though the movie's directing and dialogue are fairly routine.
|
| 48 |
Mr. Showbiz
A modest project with an agreeably modest point of view, but it cries out for a sharp, believable naturalism Kusama simply doesn't supply.
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| 20 |
Dallas Observer
We're in for a long, unpleasant, reactionary ride.
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