Movie Review: 'Bleed For This'

A new boxing drama based on the remarkable comeback story of Vinny Pazienza star Miles Teller and Aaron Eckhart. It's called "Bleed For This." Spectrum News film critic Neil Rosen filed the following review.

Teller plays Vinny Pazienza, a boxing champion from Rhode Island who, shortly after winning the junior middleweight title in 1991, was in a life threatening car accident. His neck was broken and he was told that he might never walk again.

However, Vinny not only wants to walk, he wants to go back in the ring. Against the orders of his doctor, family and friends, and only a few months after the accident, he starts secretly training.

Wearing a halo crown, barely able to move his head, he makes a plea to his trainer, Kevin Rooney, to get on board and help him box competitively again.

Miles Teller gives a spirited, dedicated performance as Vinny, while an almost unrecognizable Aaron Eckhart is quite good as his trainer.

From a filmmaking standpoint, the boxing scenes are not all that impressive. But knowing that a hit to Vinny's injured area could permanently paralyze him more than makes up for that deficiency and adds lots of suspense and tension to the proceedings.

The tough, working class Rhode Island folks who populate the film are a bit stereotyped, and we never get to really know them. Director Ben Younger uses lots of predictable, by-the-numbers boxing movie clichés along the way, and it lacks the depth of the movie "The Fighter."

If it wasn't based on a true story you could easily dismiss this film. But the fact that this really did happen sort of changes everything, and watching Vinny's remarkable comeback, along with sensational acting, gives audiences a lot to root for here.