Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher main backdrop
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Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher

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6.3/10 • 185

2022-06-301h 46m

HistoryDrama

The birth of boxing.

At the turn of the 19th century, Pugilism was the sport of kings and a gifted young boxer fought his way to becoming champion of England.

Directors
Daniel Graham
Writters
Matt Hookings
Editors
Matt Hookings, Chris Gill

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Matt Hookings

    Matt Hookings

    Jem Belcher

  2. Ray Winstone

    Ray Winstone

    Bill Warr

  3. Jodhi May

    Jodhi May

    Mary Belcher

  4. Marton Csokas

    Marton Csokas

    Lord Rushworth

  5. Russell Crowe

    Russell Crowe

    Jack Slack

  6. Steven Berkoff

    Steven Berkoff

    Walter

  7. Julian Glover

    Julian Glover

    Lord Ashford

  8. Lucy Martin

    Lucy Martin

    Gilly Belcher

  9. Stanley Morgan

    Stanley Morgan

    Tom Belcher

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Aug 16, 2022

5/10

Matt Hookings isn't very convincing here in this rather sketchy biopic of British boxer Jeb Belcher. On the plus side, it conveys really well the gritty side of life in Victorian Britain where the genteel, ostensibly refined, upper class routinely used the travails of the working class as a source of entertainment. This young lad finds himself trained in the school of hard knocks by Russell Crowe's "Slack" whilst being fairly shamelessly manipulated by the clever "Lord Rushworth" (an overly hammy Marton Csokas). The narrative tries quite hard to offer us a plausible series of scenarios as the young man rises from obscurity, but the production is not good. It has a "digital" look to it; there is little authentic about the style and though there is a modest amount of pugilism contained, the presence of the one-gear Ray Winstone ("Warr") adds little to this remarkably sterile period drama. The usually reliable Steven Berkoff is completely under-used, and Julian Glover's "Lord Ashford" is straight out of "For Your Eyes Only" (1981). It's a fitting topic for a biopic. The brutality not just of their chosen, bare knuckle, way out of abject poverty but also of the way in which these men were carefully exploited by others rich and poor as if they were little better than cattle is something worth laying bare. Sadly, though, Daniel Graham has focused too much on delivering a big name supporting cast and left much of the writing and character development to simmer rather than boil. This is an adequate television movie, but a real missed opportunity to depict the story of a tenacious and wily fella.

Media

  • Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher poster
  • Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher poster
  • Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher poster
  • Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher poster
  • Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher poster
  • Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher poster
  • Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher poster
  • Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher poster
  • Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$8,000,000.00
Revenue
--
Keywords
boxing