Robert Ryan is an aging boxer who never quite made it. His latest bout is against young up and comer Hal Baylor who's backed by gangster Alan Baxter. Although Baylor is heavily favoured to win, Baxter wants to be sure and pays Ryan's manager George Tobias to have Ryan throw the fight. Tobias is so certain that Ryan will lose that he doesn't tell him about the fix.
You know what's going to happen?
Although the story is fairly predictable, this film is so beautifully executed that it's predictability becomes a virtue. Playing out in real time, we see all the fight preparation and the interaction between all the boxers fighting that night, and it's all inexorably leading to an almost pre-ordained conclusion ... Ryan's big hope for one more win to set up his future will lead to his downfall.
The film's adapted from a narrative poem and there's definite poetry in the way it's executed.
You know what's going to happen?
Although the story is fairly predictable, this film is so beautifully executed that it's predictability becomes a virtue. Playing out in real time, we see all the fight preparation and the interaction between all the boxers fighting that night, and it's all inexorably leading to an almost pre-ordained conclusion ... Ryan's big hope for one more win to set up his future will lead to his downfall.
The film's adapted from a narrative poem and there's definite poetry in the way it's executed.