Small-town boy Shawn MacArthur has come to New York City with nothing. Barely earning a living selling counterfeit goods on the streets, his luck changes when scam artist Harvey Boarden sees that he has a natural talent for streetfighting. When Harvey offers Shawn help at making the real cash, the two form an uneasy partnership.
Fighting arrives fully charged by the charisma of its star, Channing Tatum.
– Kyle Smith,
New York Post,
24 Apr 2009
fresh:
There's an effective, unstylized authenticity to those fights. A life or death mania, which enhanced the film's credibility.
– Ben Mankiewicz,
At the Movies,
27 Apr 2009
rotten:
This is a story we've seen dozens of times before.
– Ben Lyons,
At the Movies,
27 Apr 2009
fresh:
The fights may not be very convincing, but the story's underdog structure is satisfying in a happy-cliche sort of way. Fighting is Rocky without the bombast, Fight Club without the daft metaphysical pretensions.
– David Denby,
New Yorker,
4 May 2009
fresh:
The tell-it-as-it-is title hardly indicates anything out of the ordinary, but this bare-knuckle boxing flick is put together with more love than you'd expect.