Fighting (2009 film)

Fighting is a 2009 sports action drama film directed by Dito Montiel, with a screenplay by Robert Munic and Montiel, and starring Channing Tatum, Terrence Howard and Luis Guzmán. It was released on April 24, 2009 in the United States by Rogue Pictures.

Plot

Present day New York City: Shawn MacArthur (Channing Tatum) is a street hawker. One day while selling counterfeit goods at the corner of Radio City Music Hall, a group of young men attempt to force Shawn to relocate with his merchandise. These boys work for Harvey Boarden (Terrence Howard), a ticket scalper who controls the corner. Shawn fights them off, but does not retain his money or products.

Later, Shawn sees Harvey and the guys who stole his money in a cafe and confronts them. Harvey gives him his money back and offers him a chance at a "winner takes all" fight for money. Harvey sets up a meeting with his friend and rival, Martinez (Luis Guzmán). Shawn's first fight is at a Brooklyn church against a Russian. He wins when he knocks the Russian into a water fountain. Harvey takes Shawn to a club where he meets a waitress named Zulay (Zulay Henao), a single mother to whom Shawn had earlier tried to sell a fake Chinese Harry Potter book. In the VIP area to the club, Shawn also runs into Evan Hailey (Brian White), a professional fighter who used to be on the same college wrestling team as Shawn and was coached by Shawn's father. Shawn and Harvey leave after Evan and Shawn nearly get into a fight. Shawn's second fight is at the back of a store in the Bronx, against a much larger opponent. The fight descends into chaos after some of Harvey's crew interfere, when the opponent nearly chokes Shawn, and the woman who owns the store pulls out a gun when one of the guys spills her drink. Harvey, Shawn and the rest of Harvey's crew flee the scene and neither fighter gets paid. Shawn's third fight is at what appears to be a high end Chinese crime syndicate run bordello in which Shawn is victorious. Later in the day, he goes to a club to celebrate, Evan is there and instigates a confrontation with Shawn and taunts him on his current status and his father.

Between fights, Shawn continues to court and romance Zulay and they eventually have sex. Zulay later asks Shawn on the subject of his family in which he tells her that the reason why he and Evan have such a bitter rivalry is because Shawn's father coached the wrestling team that he and Evan were on. Shawn's father showed more affection toward Evan while Shawn was consistently bullied by other teammates including Evan. Having had enough, he lashed out at Evan and when Shawn's father tried to break them up, Shawn explains that in a blind fury, he beat his father to a pulp and hasn't seen or heard from him since the incident. Moreover, he knows he will probably never be forgiven. Shawn and Zulay are later visited by Harvey, and Shawn is furious, suspecting Zulay and Harvey of having sexual relations. Harvey explains that Zulay places bets for him.

Shawn and Harvey are offered a fight against Evan, and Shawn accepts, but Harvey wants him to throw the fight so that Martinez and his associates can make money. Shawn agrees to throw the fight. Zulay places the bets, a total of $500,000. Shawn and Evan fight at a penthouse apartment, with Zulay, Harvey and the rest of the crew watching. Evan has Shawn in a chokehold and it appears that Shawn is about to throw the fight; however, he fights back and overpowers Evan. Shawn beats Evan, and Martinez threatens Harvey. At Harvey's apartment, Shawn reveals Zulay reversed the bets and they have one million dollars. Zulay picks up Shawn and Harvey, and they leave New York with Zulay's daughter and grandmother.

Cast

• Channing Tatum as Shawn MacArthur
• Terrence Howard as Harvey Boarden
• Luis Guzmán as Martinez
• Brian White as Evan Hailey
• Flaco Navaja as Javon Wilkinson / Ray Ray
• Cung Le as Dragon Lee
• Zulay Henao as Zulay Velez
• Roger Guenveur Smith as Jack Dancing
• Anthony DeSando as Christopher Anthony
• Peter Tambakis as Z
• Michael Rivera as Ajax

Production

Shooting locations

• DeKalb Avenue/Washington Park, Fort Greene in Brooklyn, New York City.
• Nassau Street in Manhattan, New York City.
• Ramon Aponte Park, W. 47th Street, New York City.

Release

Box office and critical reaction

The film opened at #3 at the North American box office making $11 million USD in its opening weekend. It scored a mixed "39%" rating according to Rotten Tomatoes. It has earned itself an average 4.9/10, based on 129 reviews.

Home media

Fighting was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 25, 2009 in North America. The film has shifted over 600,000 copies as reported by www.the-numbers.com.^[2] The DVD and Blu-ray includes the theatrical version (105 minutes) and the unrated extended cut (108 minutes). Special features include deleted scenes and previews.

References

External links

• Official website
• Fighting at the Internet Movie Database
• Fighting at AllMovie
• Fighting at Box Office Mojo
• Fighting at Rotten Tomatoes