UNAUTHORIZED REVIEW – Boxing meets the elusive city merchant in a story of redemption in prizefighting | film

FFinancial traders in movies are usually personified with arrogance, while boxers are a surefire underdog story. Writing and playing reformed city hustler-turned-boxer Danny Goode, as well as directing the low-budget British drama that results, Mark Hampton sets up a potentially fertile collision between these two opposing elements. But he limits himself to an overly serious tale of redemption, and lets his film absorb too many cheap clichés.

Danny was released after three years of cooking the books; As a former prominent member of a late-night/early-morning gambling crew called the Breakfast Club, he must now accept diminished circumstances. This means an improperly rented apartment, and after his business license is revoked, he takes a job at a restaurant washing dishes arranged by an old friend, John (Mark Tunstall). His ex-wife, Chloe (Sarah Diamond), has divorce papers ready to go, but Danny is eager to build bridges with his son Ben (Artie Wong). The kid has been promised a luxury holiday, so another high-stakes play is his only way to do good: getting into a £10,000 prize fight organized by local strongman Billy (Gary Davidson Jr), who trains at John’s gym.

Hampton exudes easy charisma on screen, and his beautifully shot film feels like it’s in combat mode. But she proves slow to get back on her feet, spending too much time on generic family bickering that feels like an EastEnders spinoff. It’s not until it’s almost too late that he launches into a full-on dramatic connection, illustrating Danny’s gambling addiction (there’s a lovely scene where access to banking apps makes it surprisingly easy to amass the required £5,000 entry stake). Or, in contrast, how his business acumen allows him to run John’s struggling restaurant.

Unauthorized explicitness suggests that it may be a personal project for Hampton. But it seems less committed to exploring its protagonist’s weaknesses and vulnerabilities than to paving an easy path for his return. Although Danny may be forever indebted to the local hard nut, the boxing bout takes place in time-honored Rocky style. Perhaps betting on a worse outcome would have made the movie more interesting.