What set this apart, I would suggest, is its deep and unremitting unpleasantness
The Cut stars Orlando Bloom as a boxer who comes out of retirement for one last shot at glory. You may be wondering: how does this film about a boxer coming out of retirement for one last shot at glory differ from all the others? It’s a story that’s been told umpteen times but what set this apart, I would suggest, is its deep and unremitting unpleasantness. If I were given the choice of having to sit through it again or losing one of my limbs I would need to put some serious thought into that.
Bloom has been among the ensemble casts of successful franchises (Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings) but this is his shot at leading man glory. It’s the sort of role actors love as it involves a physical transformation. In this instance we are talking about extreme weight loss. Bloom has said that in the lead up to filming he basically lived off tuna, cucumber and black coffee. I hope he, at least, thinks it was worth it. The film is directed by Sean Ellis from a screenplay by Justin Bull. It opens in the ring, which is, in fact, the only scene in the ring. This is light on boxing. We don’t have to worry about that type of violence. I wish we did. This scene, which is so poorly shot it feels like a low-end commercial, sees our boxer – he remains nameless throughout – lose a title fight while incurring a nasty gash over one eye. We then spool forward ten years.
Now he’s retired and running a boxing gym in Ireland with his wife, Caitlin (Catriona Balfe). We see him cleaning toilets that could be straight out of Trainspotting. He’s bulimic and we will see Bloom puke a lot. If it’s unpleasant, Ellis wants us to see it, in close-up. (If you’re emetophobic forget it.) He is visited by a promoter. A boxer has died prior to a high-stakes bout in Las Vegas and he wants him as the replacement. Our boxer accepts even though he will have to cut (hence the title) his weight by 30lb. In one week. I know nothing about the boxing world but wouldn’t a promoter wish to pick someone who was a sure thing? I kept waiting for the why? Why this fella? Who hasn’t fought for a decade and may or may not make weight. No answer is ever forthcoming.
He and Caitlin are flown to Las Vegas where he’s put through his paces by a sadistic trainer (John Turturro, constantly screaming) and at this point the film switches from a sports film into a psychological body horror that is relentless. He is made to pound treadmills until he passes out. He is starved, binges, pukes again. Blood is drained from him. Sweat is extracted. He nearly dies. At one point, which I don’t think is even the lowest point, he has to masturbate in front of everyone to rid himself of semen. (But would you lose even a gram? Doesn’t sperm regenerate constantly?) A fellow boxer gives him drugs. He loses the capacity to tell what is real and what isn’t. There are flashbacks to his traumatic childhood. This is the kind of film where the women are Madonnas (Caitlin) or whores (his mother). It’s one cliché or the other.
While he goes through hell and so do we, nothing is revealed as to what is driving him. Bloom is committed, and loses weight before our eyes, but he can’t bring depth and talks in such a thick, mumbling Irish accent I often couldn’t make out what he was saying. (This may be a small mercy, as the writing doesn’t do anyone any favours.) I was very glad when it was over; I could never sit through it again. But I can choose which limb, at least?
Comments