The Featherweight follows retired boxer Willie Pep as he tries to mount a career comeback while wrestling with a plethora of family and financial issues in 1964 Hartford, Connecticut. Shot in a pseudo-documentary, cinema verité style on grainy 16MM stock, the characters break the fourth wall and speak directly to the camera as the plot unfolds. Director Robert Kolodny deserves top marks for creative filmmaking in his debut feature. He expertly recreates Pep's matches while intercutting classic newsreel footage and staged reaction shots. This slice of life perspective and an engaging ensemble keeps your attention span as a predictable narrative wears thin.
James Madio, forever immortalized as "Don't Ask" in Steven Spielberg's Hook as a child actor, stars as the loquacious and headstrong Pep, who won 229 fights, held the featherweight championship twice, and is widely considered as one of the greatest boxers of all time. We're introduced to the 42-year-old Willie regaling customers of his famous exploits at an Italian eatery. He hams it up for the camera as everyone treats him like a star.
Later that night, Willie and his much younger third wife, Linda (Ruby Wolf), get dressed for a banquet of boxing greats in New York City. Willie takes the stage with Sandy Saddler (Lawrence Gilliard Jr.), his one-time boxing nemesis and now dear friend who's cognitively impaired after decades of being a punching bag. Willie's jokes land on deaf ears as the legendary Rocky Marciano calls him a fool for attempting a comeback. He'll end up like Sandy if he isn't careful. Willie's mood sours dramatically when he's forced to pay the hefty dinner bill when Marciano leaves.
A Good Supporting Cast Imitates Goodfellas
The film crew returns to the Pep household in Hartford, where cracks in the veneer start to surface. Billy Jr. (Keir Gilchrist), Willie's oldest son and a heroin addict, shows up unexpectedly and argues with Linda. Willie's mother (Imma Aiello) only speaks Italian and enrages Linda even further. A flustered Willie shows the crew his most prized possession — his boxing gloves from his first championship fight are the only souvenir he hasn't sold for desperately needed money.
Steve Loff, who serves as producer and screenwriter, adds gravitas beyond the family soap opera with sharp veteran supporting performances. Stephen Lang co-stars as Bill Gore, Willie's trainer and owner of the Hartford Boxing Club. He and Ron Livingston, who plays Bob Kaplan, Willie's manager, are the reality check to foolish dreams of rekindled glory. They care for Willie and give him the awful truth straight. Bob implores Willie to get a job like everyone else. Bill equally pulls no punches. Willie was once the greatest fighter in his weight class, but that man vanished a long time ago.
The Featherweight can be criticized as a Martin Scorsese knockoff. Madio looks and acts like De Niro's Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull. The black and white boxing fights are quite similar. Also, the film's female characters, especially Linda, his mother, and Frances, Willie's younger sister, could have been pulled directly from Goodfellas. A scene of them gossiping and smoking cigarettes with heavy makeup and spritzed hair could be interchangeable. Imitation is the best form of flattery, so this reviewer has no issues. It would be a disservice to the film's actresses to say they were emulating earlier works or playing stereotypes. They're good here, but the comparisons are obvious.
Robert Kolodny Is a Filmmaker to Watch
Your eyes are immediately glued to The Featherweight as Kolodny uses handheld cameras, long tracking shots, and quick panning back and forth to capture the action. These jerky movements are initially jarring and cumbersome, but Kolodny's methodology settles in, and the audience gets into his cinematic groove. He also shoots from different angles, so there's never really a constant center focus. This visual take is quite different from the norm and speaks volumes to Kolodny's expertise. He knows what he's doing and had a clear vision for every aspect of the film. The Featherweight looks incredible and may well be a dark horse challenger for cinematography (Adam Kolodny) and editing (Robert Greene, a brilliant director in his own right) awards contention.
The Featherweight doesn't offer any surprises. Everything goes as expected because we've seen this story before ad nauseam. Champion boxers losing their fortune, bickering with wives and children, and attempting to reclaim faded fame is a known cinematic commodity. This is exactly why Kolodny's handling of the material succeeds. He wraps the same toy in a shiny new package and makes the unraveling process more intriguing.
The Featherweight has a relatively short runtime of an hour and forty minutes, but seems longer. The third act drags because of the plot's overall predictability. That said, Kolodny makes the correct pacing choices. A leaner edit is too breezy and adding unnecessary filler would have been boring. The film is a remarkable display of Kolodny's talent and skill. We'll see if his next feature is as visually remarkable.
The Featherweight is a production of Appian Way, Pep Films, Golden Ratio Films, and Blisspoint Entertainment. It is currently in limited theatrical release with national distribution on September 27th from Cinetic Media and mTuckman Media.
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