Body and Soul
1947 Directed by Robert Rossen
Synopsis
Charley Davis, against the wishes of his mother, becomes a boxer. As he becomes more successful the fighter becomes surrounded by shady characters, including an unethical promoter named Roberts, who tempt the man with a number of vices. Charley finds himself faced with increasingly difficult choices.
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60/100
Too much soul, not enough body. Climactic bout delivers everything promised by "Scorsese's primary influence for Raging Bull," but there are no haymakers to be found in the film's tsk-tsking portrait of corruption, which dogpiles Charley with a saintly, disapproving salt-of-the-earth mother and an unfailingly morally righteous love interest and another fighter he nearly killed who keeps coming around to sorrowfully ask whether the fix is in. James Wong Howe makes it all look far murkier than it actually is, and Garfield radiates pique-fueled entitlement; nothing clunks or clangs (though the ending feels unduly optimistic given the reality of what would probably happen to Charley—at least Butch in Pulp Fiction knew enough to skip town). Brief fight sequences excepted,…
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This film is my definition of decent. Nothing in it is bad, but nothing really sticks out (maybe the boxing subject). Garfield and Palmer are both good, but I wish the mob/promoter character were more menacing. I think it could have been grittier also. I can see how this might have influenced later boxing films though,
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Great film. Well written and acted.
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60/100
Too much soul, not enough body. Climactic bout delivers everything promised by "Scorsese's primary influence for Raging Bull," but there are no haymakers to be found in the film's tsk-tsking portrait of corruption, which dogpiles Charley with a saintly, disapproving salt-of-the-earth mother and an unfailingly morally righteous love interest and another fighter he nearly killed who keeps coming around to sorrowfully ask whether the fix is in. James Wong Howe makes it all look far murkier than it actually is, and Garfield radiates pique-fueled entitlement; nothing clunks or clangs (though the ending feels unduly optimistic given the reality of what would probably happen to Charley—at least Butch in Pulp Fiction knew enough to skip town). Brief fight sequences excepted,…