A homeless man is recruited by a bunch of rich kids to fight other impoverished people.
Plot Synopsis:
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servoguy
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Generally, I don't go for dramas much, and I really dislike long draw- out dramas. I watched Cardboard Boxer knowing zero about it apart from the title, and got totally sucked into the story. Its a story about a human being, not a "homeless person". It didn't dwell on the plight of the homeless, or try to preach about the class divide.
I thought the movie made outstanding use of its unashamedly simplistic characters and setting to tell a very thoughtful story with a rich vein of truth and humanity at its core. I found much I could empathise with despite never having been anywhere near homeless myself.
But yes, it is no more about "bumfights" than Romeo and Juliet is about hot-rods and Brylcreem. For people wanting to see that sort of thing, give this one a miss and skip straight to WWE.
Whatever its shortcomings may be, this movie tackles some of the darkest places in the soul of man and still manages to bring the viewer through it feeling optimistic and uplifted without having to resort to anything as patronising as a 'happily ever after'.
Cardboard Boxer touches on many facets of human-nature, but at its heart, it's a love story told through the eyes of someone so utterly alone that they have never even known anyone well enough to develop an unrequited crush, let alone fall in love. By rights, it should be the type of utterly depressing movie that makes me switch off after 10 minutes, but it was quite the opposite. That's a pretty neat trick Mr. Lee.
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Sumit Guha
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I don't really care about any body else's review . I'm an Er doc and I've seen homeless people for most of my life and career.He did a great job showing there desperation and how they have been abandoned.These people are human beings not to be manipulated and deserve the same respect as everyone else.It's not a popular fad to help someone in need .It's a need we should inherently have to help our own species.What else have we become ?Not driven by media but by emotion . Not by government and programs but by the the individual who gives that person a hug ( the burnt child that gives Mr Church in the final scene) .Thank you ,if you ever read this Mr Church.
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annjenkinvegan from United States
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This is the best feel good movie in years. If you have a heart, it will leave you breathless at times, emotionally exhausted, having laughed and cried, and then feeling so good! It is right on with the feelings one has in being homeless, as I too could not get out of my homeless circumstances, though I tried different cities and states, until in Florida, in utter hopelessness and desperation from years of this I begged a police officer in West Palm Beach to arrest me, but instead he took me to his home, became my biggest hero, and got me out of homelessness. But more importantly, buy this movie, don't rent it! It is a rare gem, and the best medicine for anyone who needs to feel good, and a move such as this one will heal the broken heart.
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C W from Mexico
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Worth watching if for no other reason than its raw depiction of life "on the nickel' this is an unusual film. Its antihero, lured by a mere $50, embarks on a course of action pretty much guaranteed to lead to a falling out with the community. I've heard that the majority of homeless people are suffering from mental problems, and this aspect is played nicely by the actors here. And it is a community; this was the part of the film that surprised me most, the parallel world of the homeless, in which street sex is freely available, $5 gets you a b.j. and pussy costs $5 more. The movie is pretty much plot less, except for a rather unbelievable bolted- on ending that failed to convince me. Still, if you like grit and grime, give it a try.
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matthijsalexander from Netherlands
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First of all.... don't be fooled by the word Boxer. I generally get thrown off by movies about boxers as I feel this gerne his been swallowed, digested and eventually ended up in the sewer through a process we all privately enjoy. Anyways, I think this film portrays the fear of every human: Loose everything, become homeless and adapt to the street life. I could not imagine, can you? Where do you go? What do you do? What does one do for entertainment? What does one do for money? This film, I think, provides a great glimpse into the life of a homeless man and reveals hardship, friendship and the ups and downs one may or may not encounter.
His love for his new found treasure, his thoughts, his emotions, his actions are captivating and intriguing. This movie will make you think, will make you appreciate, will touch your soul (I am a cold person and not easily touched or moved).
Enjoy this movie over candle light, with your better half. Men have a chance to appear empathetic and sympathetic, while still getting a bit of violence in. Win win.
Superb movie which will be greatly underestimated. Enjoy!
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fallguy_jack from Canada
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A powerful and well acted movie.
Thomas Hayden Church - Who? Was exactly the impression he left on me before this movie, then I looked the movie up here and clicked on his name because his face was familiar... oh ya, The Sandman from that weak spiderman movie and wings. Not really an impressive actor -
Until This.
The average person may not make if far through the movie because it removes them from their "out of sight, out of mind" comfort zone.
When the pathetic kind of people who watch bum fights find out there's more to it than that, they will be less inclined to give it a shot, but they're beyond help anyway.
The few with the constitution to watch this movie will not be disappointed. There's a kind of poetry in that I suppose... Just like this film.
P.S. Remember - Food Banks can do MUCH more with money than you can at a supermarket, they can get produce fresh straight from farmers at waay better prices. Half the crap food donated has to be thrown out anyway, so do everyone involved a favor and donate money to food banks.
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subxerogravity from United States
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Thomas Hayden Church plays Willie, a homeless man with a little missing in the head. Based on the title of the movie, the film was about Willie getting paid by some rich kids to fight other homeless people for their entertainment. The other star on the poster, Terrance Howard plays a man who was able to get himself off the streets and comes back to help those he left behind, trying to seek out these rich kids and stop them from exploiting the homeless.
The richness of the film comes from Church trying to keep his mind straight, and doing this after coming across the diary of a young burn victim writing about the experience. He finds comfort writing letter to her inside the diary.
Overall the film does a great job of making you look differently at the homeless. It get inside the mind of a man living on the streets, and it does not try to figure him out, just make him human.
However, the movie does clean up far too well, and somehow this takes away from completely getting under your skin about the situation.
It's a well driven vehicle for Church, especially with Howard riding shotgun, but it does not have the emotion needed for people to go out and see it.
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xxdjsethxx from United States
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I decided to watch this movie on a day which I had nothing else to do. Some (like the only other one to review it) May have come to view the movie regarding homeless people fighting. However IMO the name of the movie is quite misleading. I see the film as a personal in-depth drama of a homeless man who at first wants to feel better about himself. He starts off by reading a young girl's diary to help pass the time. He ends up growing fond of this diary. However due to fighting other homeless guys, he starts feeling worse and wishing harm upon his self. I will say the ending did have me in tears. I will not give it all away but you can about guess how it ended.
IMO for the kind of movie it is, it was very touching and really should be watched with an open mind and not focused on the fighting.
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trashman-66341 from Cardiff, Wales
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If you don't have a natural sympathy for the homeless there's nothing to see here.
I felt the movie tries to give you: "a day in the life of..." kind of feeling. If you don't find yourself warming to the main character, again, turn it off.
If you do warm to him though, it's an enjoyable ride. I did find moments where the film tries to make you feel something but you don't and a few little cracks which will need your forgiveness. (I agree with another review on here, the main 'baddie' is a little too cliché and, considering his proposed intellect, would have used a clever bit of manipulation psychology rather than something I've seen a thousand times before.)
There are, however, hard hitting scenes where I responded emotionally whereas the movie took it's time, no dramatic music, no sentimentality. I loved those moments, really spot on. Great direction, script and acting.
The end scene I felt was under cooked and could have done with a bit more air time between the characters in question. I just don't think their emotional bond was that strong - that the film was relying on my buy in instead.
But all in all? Yeah, nice film, good acting, directing, script (for the most part, couple of forgives, no biggies) and it does what it's supposed to do.
Enjoyed.
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vegicat from United States
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Not because it's about homeless people, or because it's sad or poignant -- because it's just not very good.
I can't fault the filming. It has most of the street atmosphere down. And, the lead actor is was very believable as a homeless person, Willy, at the beginning of the movie, but then it went downhill. The dude who played the homeless vet was good as well.
Where the film fell massively short was in the plot. It just wasn't consistent, and was disconnected -- like they tried to do a smashup of two different movies... one gritty, and one sugary-sweet like a Hallmark holiday movie. The only thing that could have made it worse would be if it had been set during Christmas.
Spoilers --------
No clue whatsoever what the writer thought the storyline about the little burn victim and her diary was going to add to the plot. It was just plain bad. Homeless dude finds a partially-burned book that turns out to be a young girl's diary. Which isn't written like a kid would write, at all. It's written like an adult used it to narrate the story, for lack of better ideas. Switching between the young girl reading it out loud (which sounded like a kid trying to read grown-up's words) and having the vet read other parts to Willy was annoying. It's not a diary, it's a monologue. Diary fail.
Why didn't Willy know how to read cursive? Why did he sometimes appear to be quite smart and perceptive, and then other times pulled a full-on Rainman? Is he supposed to be mentally ill or not? What's his backstory?
About the 'fight' scenes. Dropped the ball on that. It could have been a very sick and twisted setup that made commentary on how disposable homeless people are, but it was trying too hard to be a feel-good Lifetime Movie thing. It could really have been about entitled rich brats exploiting people who've fallen through the cracks, but it couldn't do that effectively because it was so busy trying to build a "heartwarming story" about some little burn victim and a homeless dude. A dude who, unlike most street-dwellers, doesn't drink or do drugs, and who, when offered a $5 blowjob, instead just asks the prostitute to "love him"? The prostitute was a completely forgettable Macy Gray, by the way.
The ending, where Willy magically manages to severely burn both of his hands from trying to retrieve the diary from the burning trash can the evil, spoiled rich kid threw it into, was just irritating. He somehow ends up in the same burn ward as a little kid? An adult man in with child burn victims? And then the end, where he sees her, she runs over and they hug, made me go into diabetic shock.
Oh, we get it -- they were both unwanted, but now they've found each other!
Such a shame. This could have been a good movie with a good actor, if the writers weren't determined to ruin it with crap about some kid's diary.
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