Journeyman
Dir: Paddy Considine
2018
****
There are a few unfortunate issues with Paddy Considine’s second directional feature but I would argue that each one is forgivable. The boxing genre is awash with classics and with great films such as Raging Bull, The Fighter, Rocky and (some of) its sequels. It’s pretty difficult to have an original idea – our protagonist will either win, lose, lose and come back and win or more recently, lose, become injured in some irreparable way, train and go back for one last victory, against all the odds. Whether they win or lose, at least they’re back. Everyone has respect for them, yadda yadda yadda. It seems loosing the fight is the new winning. Indeed, Million Dollar Baby won Clint Eastwood the Best Picture Oscar at the 2004 Academy Awards and his protagonist ‘wins’ by eventually dying. One of my recent favorites has been 2006’s Bleed For This that tells the true story of Vinny "The Pazmanian Devil" Pazienza who broke his back in a car crash and trained while in a neck-brace to get up and fight once more. Considine’s Journeyman sounded quite similar but it really isn’t. In fact, it isn’t like any boxing film made before, so already the actor/director has got something right. Our protagonist is middleweight boxing champion Matty Burton. Son of a legendary giant of the boxing world, Matty’s career is coming to an end and his last fight is to retain his champion belt and go out while he’s number one. After loosing his father to cancer and following the birth of his first child, Matty feels that deep down it is time to retire, he just needs to make this last bit of money to secure his family’s future. His last fight is with the brash and aggressive Andre Bryte, the ‘future’ of boxing that is a million miles away from the world of boxing that Matty was born into. Bryte continues to rile Matty by declaring that this match is going to be ‘a life changer’. Matty and Bryte tussle in the ring and go several rounds before the match is ended, with Matty being declared the winner but only by a few points. The boxing element of this ‘boxing’ film is surprisingly short, but that is because this film is about a fight, but not necessarily a boxing match. Matty arrives back home bruised and worn, his wife Emma (Jodie Whittaker) asks what he’d like most in the world and his answer is a simple ‘cup of tea’. However, when Emma returns to the living room with a cup of tea for him she finds him slumped on the floor, a delayed reaction to a devastating punch Matty took half-way through the fight. Awaking from the coma, the real fight begins. Suffering from memory loss and with his personality altered, Matty must begin to piece his life back together as his world disintegrates. After punching Emma and putting their baby in the washing machine, Emma takes their child and leaves, with Matty left alone to fend for himself. His friends and trainers have long abandoned him but slowly they come back to him and help him with his recovery, his only mission now is to train himself to function again, his ultimate goal being to get his wife and child back home. It’s a very simple and low-budget film that looks like a made for television drama. I can see why this might have made people wonder why it was released in cinemas and not on the small screen but I would argue that the performances are everything. It’s true, it’s not particularly cinematic but Considine’s performance and his script are exceptional. He may have done himself a favour by asking someone else to direct – don’t get me wrong, he’s a great director as 2011’s Tyrannosaur proved but he didn’t direct and star in that, in Journeyman he does both and perhaps could have done with just concentrating on the acting. Indeed, it feels like that is exactly what he is doing, leaving the visuals of the film to one side. It certainly has its moments, but nothing about it visually requires watching it on the big screen. I also think though that its simplicity and lack of flashy visuals is what makes it so strong. When making a film about brain trauma the only think you have to get right above all else is the performance, and that is exactly what Considine does. His performance is worthy of a cinema release and should be shown on the biggest screen possible. There is no revenge story either and, as much as I personally dislike boxing, Considine never blames boxing or indeed the other boxer. It’s a great leveler in many respects and is reflective of the old idea that the sport is first and foremost about gentlemanly discipline. It’s a film about fighting for what is important while exploring the word ‘fight’ and all the things it can’t mean. It exercised pretty much all of my emotions as my heart was broken and warmed within an hour of each other. A fine addition to the boxing genre, a great exploration of mental illness and how people cope with it and a great look at what’s really important in life. It’s also a heartfelt love-letter to the City of Sheffield from someone who clearly adores it.