AFF Review: Day of the Fight

In Day of the Fight, actor Jack Huston’s debut feature as a writer-director, the mood is meditative as middleweight boxer Mikey Flannigan (Michael Pitt) prepares for the biggest fight of his career.

We walk with him through the streets of 1980s Brooklyn, rendered in striking black-and-white, as he meets with monumental figures in his life and tries to find peace along the way. Named after and partially inspired by a 1951 short film of the same name by Stanley Kubrick (a contemporary of Huston’s grandfather, John Huston), Day of the Fight boasts a stacked cast, gorgeous cinematography, and moving moments. However, it can’t help but hit the sports movie clichés found often in the genre. The result is something that oscillates between reaching genuine soulfulness and checking the boxes.

Perhaps the best moments in Day of the Fight come when two actors are allowed to play off each other with a familiarity and warmth that sells the film’s heart. Two sequences immediately come to mind: first, a lengthy exchange between Mikey and a childhood friend turned priest (John Magaro). The pair talk in a church about redemption, moving forward from past mistakes and guilt, and Mikey’s difficulties living with his biggest mistake: killing a child in a drunk driving accident. It’s the performances that make the friendship feel real and lived-in, with Pitt and Magaro playing off each other splendidly. In nine minutes, you get a full sense of their relationship and even some of the ways they can’t fully verbalize their love for each other.

The second scene that comes to mind is when Mikey confronts his father (Joe Pesci). Mikey’s father has been built up in the film as an abusive, crass, oppressive force in Mikey’s life, but in the retirement home we finally meet him in, he’s rendered silent by ill health. Pitt and Pesci’s work – although verbally one-sided – is as chock-full of meaning and feeling as the exchange with Magaro earlier. Pesci’s silence is an unexpected and powerful use of the veteran actor, allowing the audience to fill in the blanks; for this writer, Pesci’s silence was filled with regret.

The script can feel like a retread of sports films past, even though the actual sport doesn’t emerge until the end of the film. It’s always a welcome sight to see a quiet, emotional film get made, but it would be better if the film had a screenplay that matches the soulfulness and warmth of its cast. When Day of the Fight lets its actors do their work despite the heavy-handed writing, it can really shine.

At least the cinematography is beautiful, thanks to cinematographer Peter Simonite (Fugitive Dreams). Mikey’s world is rendered in luscious monochrome, although Simonite manages to sneak some color in along the way.

Day of the Fight is a promising debut for Huston. The emotional preoccupations of the movie show a screenwriter tuned into the complexities of human emotions and relationships, and Huston knows how to get truly moving work out of his cast. I look forward to seeing what Huston does next, and hope he spends some time thinking outside of genre restrictions.

Day of the Fight

Closing Night Film
Texas Premiere

Austin Film Festival runs Oct. 26-Nov. 3. Badges available now at austinfilmfestival.com.
Find more news, reviews, and interviews at Austinchronicle.com/AFF.