The Cut, 2025.
Directed by Sean Ellis.
Starring Orlando Bloom, Caitríona Balfe, John Turturro, Eric D. Smith, Clare Dunne, Ed Kear, Oliver Trevena, and Andonis Anthony.
SYNOPSIS:
A retired boxer returns to the ring for one last shot at the title but only if he can make the weight. Holed up in a room in Las Vegas he embarks on an intensive and illegal weight cut program with an unscrupulous trainer.
Given that director Sean Ellis’ The Cut (from a screenplay by Justin Bull and a story by Mark Lane) is telling a radically different and darker boxing story, it’s a letdown that it also can’t escape an overly familiar, tropey box. Although the film does center on Orlando Bloom playing a has-been nameless fighter (credited as The Boxer) lucking his way into a comeback Super Welterweight title shot (something involving a celebrity fight that resulted in a death, which is oddly never brought up again), it’s not at all about in-ring action or building to a climactic sequence where that championship bout plays out on screen.
Some might roll their eyes upon hearing that this is more about the preparation for that fight, and understandably so. Watching this character train isn’t exactly engaging, so thankfully, that’s not all that’s in store here. Instead, The Cut is homing in on a seemingly impossible 30-pound weight-cut that The Boxer will need to make to compete in the championship fight. It is something that begins through the usual methods and sports clichés, until it becomes evident that little progress is being made and that this is a fool’s goal.
Enter John Turturro’s psychopathic trainer Boz, confident he can help The Boxer accomplish this task, citing that what he needs is someone who doesn’t give a damn about his well-being, someone who will push his body to the limit and will incorporate dangerous, and in some cases, illegal methods to slim down. Up until the point where this intense training takes a concerning, reckless turn for The Boxer’s well-being, his wife Caitlin (Caitríona Balfe doing solid work with an underwritten role) is in his corner. That should give one an idea of how extremely punishing the journey becomes, as Orlando Bloom delivers an equally intense performance, riveting through its strenuous physicality and photography (courtesy of cinematographer Sean Ellis), often capturing the body and its unhealthy transformations in full, sweaty, sickly detail.
Whenever The Cut digs into The Boxer’s motivations is where the film falls short. Yes, it’s a clichéd story about one last shot at greatness. However, there are also flashbacks to his childhood involving him and his mother fleeing a war zone. With each consecutive flashback, more is gradually revealed regarding the inevitable tragedy, but it never has a significant emotional impact or expands The Boxer’s characterization. They are merely half-baked plot justifications as to why he is putting himself through such a grueling torture (that includes everything from forcing himself to throw up, enemas, drugs, and a violently shocking development at the weigh-in).
Salvaging The Cut is its cutting performances and strong sense of direction, tapping into the harrowing nature of the material with unnerving results. At one point, there is also a transfixing turn into drugged-out delirium. There is an unforgiving carelessness and disregard for The Boxer’s mental and physical well-being, embodied in an ice-cold performance by John Turturro, which only elevates the already uncomfortably remarkable work Orlando Bloom is putting in. The film is a cut above most offerings in the subgenre, but misses the mark in its flurry of punches, aiming for something unique.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
