Review of Girlfight (2000) by Tracy Y — 24 Mar 2008

Girlfight a wonderful, heartfelt drama by first-time writer/director Karyn Kusama, is definitely a film you won't want to miss if you enjoy well-written, character-driven films.

Michelle Rodriguez is perfectly cast in the movie, not as a hard woman or a muscular athlete (which is obvious), but as a spirited woman with a temper, and fire in her eyes.

"Girlfight" looks like a sports picture, but it's really more of a character study, in which boxing is the way that Diana finds direction in her life.

It is often said that the eyes are the window to the soul, and Kusama takes advantage of this maxim with numerous close-ups of her actors. Rodriguez's eyes, hard as stone and filled with fiery determination, speak volumes about her character, so it's no surprise that the camera finds them repeatedly, not only during the boxing matches, but before and after. In fact, the first shot is of the actress staring defiantly into the lens, daring the audience to doubt her attitude.

Boxing movies like Girlfight, which show that there can be a positive aspect to the sport - getting participants off the street and giving them a focal point for pent-up adolescent angst and anger - are rare. Rarer still are motion pictures like this that don't descend into sermonizing and over-the-top melodrama's.

One of Girlfight's most notable features is its finely modulated sense of drama. It tells a compelling story by making the characters and their situations real. And, unlike in most sports movies where the underdog must inevitably triumph at the end, the victor's identity in Girlfight is very much in doubt. In a way, that's because the outcome of the "big bout" isn't all that important. This picture is much more about Diana's succeeding in life than it is about her winning in the ring.

A fine drama about self-discovery and female empowerment, it's about taking charge of one's own life when it appears to be hurtling out-of-control towards disaster. One of my favorite independent films to date.