INTRODUCTION
This is a quick review of the newly released film Christy. Please note that this is just one of the many movies I will have watched each year, and my initial grade for this film may change over time, for better or worse. To stay up to date on my thoughts about other movies and any potential changes in my opinion on this one, follow me on Letterboxd.
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PLOT
Via Letterboxd: Christy Martin never imagined life beyond her small-town roots in West Virginia, until she discovered a knack for punching people. Fueled by grit, raw determination, and an unshakable desire to win, she charges into the world of boxing under the guidance of her trainer and manager-turned-husband, Jim. But while Christy flaunts a fiery persona in the ring, her toughest battles unfold outside it; confronting family, identity, and a relationship that just might become life-or-death.
REVIEW
After more than a decade of producing award-contending films, Black Bear Productions has officially entered the distribution game, hoping to join the likes of A24 and Neon as a top-tier independent studio handling both financing and release. Their first effort in this new chapter? Christy, a biopic of female boxer Christy Martin, the athlete who brought women’s boxing to the mainstream by fighting on the undercards of some of the biggest heavyweight matches of the nineties.
Directed by David Michod, best known to me for 2010’s Animal Kingdom and 2019’s The King, the film stars Sydney Sweeney as Martin, Ben Foster as her abusive ex-husband and manager, and Katy O’Brian as a former rival turned would-be wife.
The obvious question for a project like this, especially one that screened at several fall festivals and seems designed as a potential awards vehicle for Sweeney, is whether it feels any different from the usual biopic fare. My answer is…somewhat. The film does show flashes of personality, mainly through a few clever needle drops and stylistic flourishes that hint at something livelier than the standard formula.
As advertised, though, Christy delivers not just one but arguably two of the year’s strongest performances. Sweeney fully commits to the physical and emotional demands of the role, accent, bruises, and all; while Foster absolutely terrifies as a controlling husband whose red flags are apparent from the moment he appears on screen.
The film does a solid job charting Martin’s rise and fall as the face of women’s boxing, touching on her rivalry with Laila Ali, who eventually eclipsed her in the early 2000s. It also captures the growing tension of Martin’s abusive marriage and its eventual, horrifying true-crime-style conclusion. Meanwhile, the glimpses of her budding relationship with O’Brian’s character add some warmth, even if O’Brian isn’t given quite enough to work with.
Where the movie falters is in its reluctance to fully embrace its more distinctive touches. It often pulls back just when it seems ready to break free from the traditional biopic mold. The result is a film that feels, at times, like a lesser but still serviceable enough I, Tonya. The second half drags a bit, too, with pacing issues that could’ve been improved by tightening a few scenes for a breezier runtime.
All things considered, Christy isn’t among the year’s best, and it probably won’t be the film that launches Black Bear into the Oscar stratosphere. Still, as a debut distribution effort, they could’ve done far worse. Sweeney and Foster both deliver performances strong enough to warrant year-end consideration on my own personal ballot. It’s also the kind of movie I can easily see boomer parents and grandparents getting into. Initially, I was on the stronger side of a B-, but after sitting with it, I’ve landed at a softer B+.
“TL;DR”
Pros: Top-notch performances from Sidney Sweeney and Ben Foster which elevate the material; Hints of pulling of the I, Tonya magic in the use of a soundtrack to tell a pretty conventional rise and fall bio-pic story; The kind of movie that will be easy to recommend to your boomer parents and grandparents
Cons: Seems to pull back from having the kind of personality that an I, Tonya infused into its story even as it tinkers with trying to be like it; There’s lulls after the first hour that could have been tightened and edited down for a breezier film; Ultimately doesn’t feel like it stands out compared to most bio-pics
GRADING
