X
- 2016
- R
- Open Road Films (II)
- 1 h 57 m
- 2016
- R
- Open Road Films (II)
- 1 h 57 m
Summary Vinny “The Pazmanian Devil” Pazienza (Miles Teller), a local Providence boxer, shot to stardom after winning two world title fights. After a near-fatal car accident leaves Vinny with a broken neck, he is told he may never walk again. Against all odds and doctor’s orders, renowned trainer Kevin Rooney (Aaron Eckhart) agrees to help Vinny ...
Directed By: Ben Younger
Written By: Pippa Bianco, Angelo Pizzo, Ben Younger
- 2016
- R
- Open Road Films (II)
- 1 h 57 m
- 2016
- R
- Open Road Films (II)
- 1 h 57 m
Bleed for This
62
6.7
Where to Watch
Summary Vinny “The Pazmanian Devil” Pazienza (Miles Teller), a local Providence boxer, shot to stardom after winning two world title fights. After a near-fatal car accident leaves Vinny with a broken neck, he is told he may never walk again. Against all odds and doctor’s orders, renowned trainer Kevin Rooney (Aaron Eckhart) agrees to help Vinny ...
Directed By: Ben Younger
Written By: Pippa Bianco, Angelo Pizzo, Ben Younger
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 34 Critic Reviews
62
56% Positive
19 Reviews
19 Reviews
41% Mixed
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
3% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 34 Critic Reviews
62
56% Positive
19 Reviews
19 Reviews
41% Mixed
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
3% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Miles Teller gives the performance of his career as the indefatigable Vinny “The Pazmanian Devil” Pazienza, and writer-director Ben Younger delivers one of the best boxing movies of the decade in Bleed for This.
Teller’s work is the film’s soul, and he completely convinces us of Vinny’s affability, flaws and steely determination. The performance has intelligent touches, some of them comic — such as the hint that Vinny’s rehab battle is heroic but also a bit goofy. It’s the kind of thing that first-rate actors can pull off.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 55 User Ratings
6.7
58% Positive
32 Ratings
32 Ratings
33% Mixed
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
9% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 55 User Ratings
6.7
58% Positive
32 Ratings
32 Ratings
33% Mixed
18 Ratings
18 Ratings
9% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
Really enjoyed this movie. Don't know the actual story (only read about it afterwards on wiki), so not sure how good it is portrayed, but it definitely is inspiring one. One of the best movies and even though I am still not sure if I like or don't like Miles Teller as an actor (he does have some good movies but in some movies he is just a jackass, so maybe that's why), this one was a really great performance. The movie was both interesting, funny and had it's lessons in it. Plus it is based on real life events and it wasn't your typical boxing movie either.
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Bleed for This is a gritty, pungently Rhode Island working class-set boxing drama that connects with most of its punches.
The problem, though, is that we never get enough sense of Paz's interior life to judge this movie as anything other than a comeback story about a nice guy who got knocked out by the cosmos and hauled himself up.
Yes, it’s a boxing comeback story. But the car accident makes it different, and Teller and Eckhart make it better than it ought to be.
Despite its narrative familiarity, the film is suffused with such contagious enthusiasm, distinctive performances, and local color that it stands out nevertheless.
Any initial gestures toward acknowledging Vinny Paz's macho egotism are eventually downplayed as the film becomes just another formulaic triumph-over-adversity saga.
Reminded me of Rocky - one of the best boxing movies in my opinion, and I was pleasantly surprised. Since there have been so many boxing movies...I honestly get bored with most of them. Most are short on story and the action gets repetitive and boring. This film starts out like a typical boxing film and is fine for a while, but eventually it gets quite interesting and goes in another completely unique direction for a boxing film. (and based on a true story.) If you really like typical boxing **** might not like what this film does, **** you are open to story and also like ..some..boxing movies you might enjoy this movie a lot. Right up there in the top 3 of my favorite boxing films of all time.
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The supporting actors who played the father and trainer really pulled me out of the scenes all the time with those ropey fake accents. The main star character was just some down to earth guy who didn't seem to be going nowhere in life beyond his boxing career. The guy seemed to not want to give up, because it came across that boxing was all he had to live for. This seemed more of a depressing fatalistic story than an uplifting spirited one. Without boxing I got the impression his life would be over. As for the actual boxing scenes well the Grudge Match about two pensioners had more interesting fight scenes, oh well. Interesting yes, but entertaining no.
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Bleed for This is just as rousing as one would expect with good performances to boot, but it does wind up being far too cliched to be a great boxing film. As it stands, it is an above average one that manages to be uplifting, powerful, and pure example of feel good cinema amidst the sea of machismo on display in the film. That said, its cliches and beats are all quite predictable and while director Ben Younger's film tells a true story, it remains entirely predictable and never shocks along the way. It is a largely quite palatable film that for those unconvinced by boxing films as a whole, it will hardly produce any converts. For those that enjoy boxing movies, like myself, it is like a decent slice of pizza from the place near campus that people write off as just "drunk food". It is not drunk food though, it is actually pretty okay, I swear.
Starring Miles Teller as Vinnie "The Pazmanian Devil" Paziena, a rough and tough Italian boxer from Providence, Bleed for This goes to great lengths to show how inspiring and unifying his tale is for his family. After losing three bouts in a row, jumping weight classes, and winning his second title belt, Vinnie is in a serious car accident that breaks his neck. Like every proud man before him, he refuses to give up and defies doctors orders to take it easy by working out and making a boxing comeback. He even goes so far as having the screws from his halo - used to stabilize his neck with the screws driven into the skull - removed without anesthetic. We get it, you are tough. Vinnie Paz definitely would frequent The Salty Spitoon from Spongebob, no doubt about that. The high-level of testosterone on display in this film is matched by the excessive sequences in strip clubs, Vinnie's various gorgeous girlfriends (Christine Evangelista mainly), and the shots of the ring girls during boxing matches. The fights ultimately wind up following a sequence of boxing -> bleeding -> boxing -> babe -> pep talk and repeat. That said, the fights still pack all the required tension and cathartic release once the bout is over. In this, the climax reaches a really fever pitch and, though you know the result, it still makes your heart sing with joy.
What does truly benefit Bleed for This is the focus on Paz's family. His father (Ciaran Hinds) is at every match, his mother (Katey Sagal) prays in a very Catholic fashion and refuses to watch, and his sisters and their husbands gather around the television to root him on. Cutting from shots of the fight to the Pazeina household, Younger finds incredibly power in this family unity and gives the film incredible heart. Though Paz's story alone supplies a lot of heart, few boxing movies integrate the family as much as this one, turning Bleed for This into a film that shows the impact a career in boxing has on the family as a whole.
Compared to recent boxing movies such as Creed, however, Bleed for This is hardly as impressive. The boxing scenes are shot pretty typically and the film lacks the feeling of being a spectacle. Rather, it is as if just goes through checking off boxes on the boxing biopic cliche list. Fortunately, the cliches work incredibly well and the film is quite powerful due to its real life story, but it just never feels innovative or compelling for non-athletic reasons. Even films like 2015's Southpaw add in some further depth to its largely straight forward boxing tale with some innovative trauma. Bleed for This, though incredible in real life, feels like every underdog or comeback story about a man told he can never come back. In essence, what I am trying to say, is the film feels like Million Dollar Baby if Hilary Swank boxed again. This is not bad and it is the true story, but it just feels so safe and typical as a result of this.
With strong acting and an uplifting true story, Bleed for This is a film loaded with testosterone and heart, but it follows the tried and true boxing cliches far too closely to be anything more than just another boxing movie about an underdog defeating the incredible odds before him.
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Bleed for This is just your average boxing movie. Nothing special happens afterwards. The only special you're getting is whatever's the movie's giving you and I agree that doesn't sound special whatsoever, but this movie attempts to follow its previous boxing movies and builds them as armor for this movie.
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Vinny Paz has a comeback that is too good to be true. It comes off as an act of fiction but this is real life. No denying his true heart and spirit to not only come back after a crippling accident but to win the world title too. He's the definition of underdog and a true champion.
For the movie itself, It comes off as such a typical boxing film including things like a stereotypical Italian family and people either going behind your back to make deals or are actively rooting against you by telling you you have no chance. Teller gives us a fantastic performance and so does Eckhart, who breaks the type-cast he's been in as of late and plays someone out of the box for him. Outside of that, It's not even worth renting imo.
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Production Company
Verdi Productions,
Magna Entertainment,
Bruce Cohen Productions,
Sikelia Productions,
Younger Than You
Release Date Nov 18, 2016
Duration 1 h 57 m
Rating R
Tagline This is what the greatest comeback in sports history looks like
Awards
Indiana Film Journalists Association, US
• 2 Nominations
Washington West Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Irish Film and Television Awards
• 1 Nomination
