It's a coming-of-age story about a young man in rural New Zealand who is secretly gay and who is an aspiring boxer but not really. It's interesting alternative content, coming the week after the release of Creed III (2023). At first, this might be the LGBTQ answer to that latest entry in the Rocky franchise. This film isn't serving us the queer Rocky Balboa that one might hope. We supposedly got that in Like It Is (1998), a British film that has even less boxing than the original Rocky (1976).
Jordan Oosterhof (Shortland Street) stars as Jaime Richardson, aka "Jim," a member of the Pirau Boxing Club. Apparently, he's been training with his father since he was a kid. It seems as though he's in his final year of school, either Year 12 or Year 13. His father is preparing him for his first professional fight as a welterweight, but Jim doesn't seem all that interested much any more. He still does all the training but his heart isn't in it. His heart also isn't into having sex with his girlfriend either. His heart is instead more into making music videos using his digital camera and drone.
Conan Hayes (Sweet Tooth) co-stars as Whetu, pronounced FIT TOO, which means "star," a fellow schoolmate who doesn't seem to have any friends. He's Maori, but he passes for White. He's a loner who gets bullied for being gay. After school, Whetu hangs out alone with his pet dog at the beach or a cabin in the woods. His cabin is decorated with a lot of indigenous memorabilia. He hopes to leave and travel to Sydney, Australia, where he aspires to be a singer-musician. In order to earn money to do that, he hustles at a local toilet as a sex worker for closeted men.
The film becomes about the secret relationship between Jim and Whetu. As such, it's about the undercurrent of homophobia in this area and within Jim, which he has to try to overcome. It's juxtaposed with what could be considered a very homoerotic sport, other than wrestling. Plenty scenes abound of shirtless men, mainly Jim, training in the boxing club. Whether Jim will succeed in boxing lends itself to another story line.
Tim Roth (Planet of the Apes and Pulp Fiction) also co-stars as Stan Richardson, the father to Jim and his boxing coach. Stan is an alcoholic who is told he has a terminal cancer. He's a single father who has been raising Jim for a while. No mention is made of Jim's mother. Stan works at a cement company, but his goal is to coach his son into a professional boxing career, but there are others who want to be Jim's coach and manager instead.
The push-and-pull of what direction Jim's boxing career will go, either with his father or with others, doesn't ever feel as consequential as the text of the film eventually states. Writer-director Welby Ings does photograph Jim beautifully in numerous shots that are sumptuous. By the end, it wasn't a knockout. The relationships weren't ones about which I cared and Jim's future gets shrugged off.
Not Rated but contains nudity, sexuality and language.
Running Time: 1 hrs. and 38 mins.
Played one week at Laemmle Glendale.
Available on VOD.
