Girlfight (2000)

Director:

Karyn Kusama

Writer:

Karyn Kusama (written by)

Release Date:

23 November 2000 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama | Sport

Tagline:

Prove them wrong

Plot:

Diana, without her father knowing it, trains as a boxer and achieves impressive success, blazing new trails for female boxers.

Plot Keywords:

Boxer | Female Boxer | Boxing | Training | Women Boxing

Awards:

15 wins & 11 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Nov. 19

4:05 AM

HBO

Cast

Michelle Rodriguez	...	Diana Guzman
Jaime Tirelli	...	Hector Soto
Paul Calderon	...	Sandro Guzman
Santiago Douglas	...	Adrian Sturges
Ray Santiago	...	Tiny Guzman
Víctor Sierra	...	Ray Cortez
Elisa Bocanegra	...	Marisol
Shannon Walker Williams	...	Veronica
Louis Guss	...	Don
Herb Lovelle	...	Cal
Thomas Barbour	...	Ira
Graciella Ortiz	...	Female Student
J.P. Linton	...	Mr. Price
Iris Little Thomas	...	Ms. Martinez
Dadi Pinero	...	Edward

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Canada:14A (video rating) | France:U | Germany:6 | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | Norway:11 | Spain:13 | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #37440)

Filming Locations:

Jersey City, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Green/Renzi

Trivia:

Michelle Rodriguez trained for two months before the 30-day shoot began. She was also chosen over 300 other women to be cast in the film. It was her first audition.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the girls are lined up to do chin-ups, the girl in the purple shirt changes from being in front of Diana to behind her.

Quotes:

Diana Guzman: You still like me with my black eye?
Adrian: I think I like you more.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 2001 IFP/West Independent Spirit Awards (2001) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Fried Neck Bones and Some Home Fries

good showcase for new talent

Casting unknown Michelle Rodriguez as Diana was a stroke of genius. She's perfect. Her acting inexperience actually works in her favor. We've never seen her before so it really feels like her story. She also brings across genuine toughness. This works against her though, because we never doubt her. You never have to cheer for her to win because she never goes up against any fighter we don't think she can beat. So as a boxing movie, it fails.

Then again, this isn't really a boxing movie. How do you make a movie about a girl who wants to be a boxer that isn't a boxing movie? You don't. But Karyn Kusama has anyway. Like many indie films, "Girlfight" defies classification or genre and stands on its own as folklore that could darn near happen in real life.

Diana is doing poorly in school. She beats up people she doesn't like (all the other girls in her school for example). She doesn't fit in. Her father is forcing her kid brother Tiny to learn to box so he can defend himself when things get tough. He gives Tiny money for his boxing sessions and gives Diana nothing, as if she has no need to defend herself, nor anything worthwhile to make of her life. Tiny wants to go to art school (cliche', yuck), so he gives up his boxing allowance to Diana, who actually wants to box. Things get complicated when Diana falls for another boxer, Adrian (Santiago Douglas), who's looking to turn pro. From there the story winds down toward the inevitable...the two meet in the amateur title fight.

What left me cold was that I never found any of this all that interesting. It's all just a bit too believable. Kids with tough lives growing up in rough urban areas fall back on sports. A lot of professional boxers have risen from these circumstances. The mental and physical toughness this upbringing requires lends itself to a game like boxing, where anger is your friend. So this time it's a girl. Big deal.

Or there's another position to take: finally, a boxing movie about a girl. Women's boxing has been around a long time. The brutality we usually see in boxing films is replaced here by discussions of people's their lives and their feelings. The whole fighting thing is used as a platform from which to paint a larger picture. Respect. Overcoming adversity. Self-discovery.

I recommend "Girlfight" because it has a good spirit and is an example of some great work by a first time director. The dialogue never rises above soap opera quality, but the story itself actually changed my view on some things. Yes, the world now seems like a better place. A film did that.

Grade: B-