Before we start, I have an issue with the title of
this film. A journeyman in boxing terms is generally regarded as someone who
has knocked about a bit, made a bit of money, but never really been taken
seriously. In this film our hero, played by Paddy Considine, is a world
champion with a very nice house which, if this were The Daily Mail, I might
describe as a million pound luxury pad’. So, not my idea of a journeyman.
Nor for that matter is Considine, who wrote,
directed, and stars in this worthwhile drama which is a bit less than the sum
of its parts. Considine’s directing debut Tyrannosaur
(2011) was a visceral portrait of rage and toxic masculinity; almost
unwatchable in places it remains one of the best British films of the 21st
century.
By those standards Journeyman doesn’t measure up but then very few films would. There’s
no doubting Considine’s integrity however. A lot of actors with a good deal
less talent than him have taken the Hollywood dollar to appear in pretty
indifferent material and made loads of money.
With the exception of Cinderella Man (2005)
Considine hasn’t, and I’m certain it’s not for lack of offers. Instead he has
stayed here, supported local talent, and come up with a UK version of a
Hollywood staple, the boxing comeback movie.
Considine is Matty Burton who, when we meet him,
is about to defend his WBO title against an up and coming fighter. Burton is a
family man and he lives for his wife Emma and his baby daughter. This will be
his last fight so everyone is a little anxious.
He comes out of the ring unscathed, or so it
appears, until he returns home and a devastating brain injury sustained in the
fight leaves him catastrophically impaired. With the love of a good woman
however he will turn it around and win the biggest fight of his life.
Well, not exactly. Whittaker, in my opinion, is
shamefully underwritten and kicked to the kerb far too early. This is a major weakness
in a film which, intentionally or not, ends up celebrating a particular type of
masculinity. It’s not his family who save him; it’s the brotherhood of the ring
who were suspiciously absent when he really needed them.
The inner machinations of boxing are at the heart
of Journeyman. Happily it avoids the
kind of Hollywood fight scenes where any one of the blows would kill a man if
it made contact. This is a much scrappier, insider kind of film, it gets into
the clinches and savours the smells and sounds of combat.
Credit here has to go to Considine as a director
and his cinematographer Laurie Rose. The framing and the shot selection here
are impeccable, livening up the standard tropes with flashes of guilt and
self-doubt seen in occasional glances which illuminate Considine’s character.
As an actor Considine has few peers and he puts
his heart and soul into this film. Whittaker is also very good but, as I said
earlier, she is shamefully underused. No one else in the film really has much
to do.
My guess is the story of Journeyman draws in part on the real-life story of Michael Watson
but there’s too much unearned sentiment on display here for my tastes. In the
end it doesn’t land the knockout punch, but it just about comes out ahead on
points.
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