‘Rotten’ Review: A Hard Life


Actress halle berry He makes his directorial debut with “Bruised,” a film that uses the predictable beats of a fighter’s comeback to create a showcase for challenging performances.

Berry plays Jackie Justice, a former mixed martial arts star who has alcoholism and a bad relationship with her longtime manager Desi (Adan Canto). When Jackie is recruited to a new fighting league, he gets beat up there too. But his perspective changes when his once abandoned young son, Manny (Danny Boyd Jr.), is left on his doorstep. Her vulnerability forces Jackie to confront the failures of her past and create more positive conditions in her own life. He advances through training by forming a constructive bond with a new coach, Buddhakan (Sheila Atim).

Berry keeps the pace of his film slow. There’s no doubt that Jackie will find redemption, but the movie takes its time out of disgust, taking an almost masochistic satisfaction from witnessing the humiliations that precede a victory.

Berry expresses Jackie’s depressed state through her jittery camera and desaturated color palette. Sometimes the film threatens to disappear into anonymous browns and grays, but as a director, Berry draws energy from intense physical performances. Berry takes the cast, including himself, through the steps of realizing the brutal grind of the boxing ring, the release of hard booze, and the purification of intimate sex. Every drop of precision feels hard-won, as the camera quickly detects images of blood, sweat, and tears.

rotten
Rated R for violence, language, sexual content, and brief nudity. Working time: 2 hours 9 minutes. Watch on Netflix.



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