GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★1/2
Rated: MA15+
Directed by: Paul Goldman
Written by: John Brumpton
Produced by: Lizzette Atkins, Bruno Charlesworth, Megan Wynn
Executive Producers: Matthew Gledhill, Gary Cooper
Starring: Billy Howle, Phoebe Tonkin, Tom Bateman, Mark Coles Smith, Hunter Page-Lochard, Shaka Cook, Jack Latorre, Nathan Phillips, Tasma Walton, John Brumpton, Robert Taylor, Tristan Gorey.
‘Relax. You’ll get your story.’
Robed, Kid Snow (Billy Howle) and Hammer (Tristan Gorey) shadow box in warm-up before fighting in a competition that ultimately leads to Hammer’s reign as champion.
Cameras flash.
A leggy blond holds a placard, ‘Round 1.’
It’s 1961.
And Kid Snow’s about to throw the fight.
Kid Snow throws the fight to give his brother Rory (Tom Bateman) a chance to get to the top.
It’s family. Their father (John Brumpton) thinks Rory has a better chance but it’s obvious to those watching the fight that Kid Snow could have beaten Hammer and Hammer knows it.
After disaster strikes, leaving Rory maimed and their father dead, the film jumps forward 10 years, showing the two Irish brothers in outback Australia; Rory managing a travelling Tent Fighting show, featuring Kid Snow along with indigenous fighters: Lovely (Mark Coles Smith), Lizard (Hunter Page-Lochard), Armless (Shaka Cook). And dressed up as a woman, Billy (Nathan Phillips) – the idea to goad the spectators into taking on the travelling fighters to win money and of course, boasting rights.
It’s a living. A show that now Australian reigning champion Hammer wants to see because he knows Kid Snow thinks he could have taken him all those years ago. Now he’s champion, Hammer wants to prove he deserves to be champion.
It’s a showdown a reporter, Ed (Robert Taylor) has come to write about – reigning champion versus comeback tent fighter.
At its heart, the film is an underdog story. Kid Snow taking the fall for his brother, left fighting ‘mugs’ for a living, and introducing Sunny (Pheobe Tonkin) arriving at the show with a black eye and pickpocketing, trying to make her way for her son, Darcy (Jack LaTorre).
Director Paul Goldman states:
‘Our three leads, Billy Howle (Kid Snow), Tom Bateman (Rory Quinn) and Phoebe Tonkin (Sunny), are the beating heart of this film. Each of them brave and compelling in their commitment to diving deeper into their characters and the complex relationships and emotions that resonate through this story.’
There’s the drama of the two brothers’ relationship; the elder brother Rory maimed and bitter, Kid Snow still nursing his pride after throwing the fight that could have made him.
Then there’s Sunny; Rory blackmailing her into working for the show, offering her a chance to make money as a dancer.
Then there’s the blossoming romance between Sunny and Kid Snow as Rory watches from the sidelines.
And as noted by Goldman, this is a unique film about Tent Boxing, ‘A world that, strangely, has never before been brought to the screen.’
There’s a good steady build to the story, written by John Brumpton whom represented Australia in amateur boxing in Thailand and decided to get some work for himself alongside his acting career as a scriptwriter, creating a script with himself as the protagonist.
The actors performed their own stunts which shows on screen, the feeling authentic which brings to light the attention to detail, the knowing look from Sunny, the honesty of Kid Snow. There’s a good rounding-out of characters that pulls the audience behind the characters, to cheer for the underdog, Kid Snow while also gaining insight into the relationship between the two brothers.
The film does take a beat to warm up, the acting stilted until the fast forward 10 years and the introduction of Sunny. Then the characters relax into their roles as the relationship between Sunny and Kid Snow develops and the comradery of the follow fighters plays more of a part as Kid Snow prepares for the challenge of boxing against a professional fighter rather than the mugs in the tent.
There’s a good storyline here, and a strong performance from Billy Howle, so although there’s that stilted start, the film keeps building to ultimately cheer the underdog story at its end.
Worth a watch.