Uppercut is an American remake of the 2021 German film ‘Leberhaken‘.  Writer/director Torsten Ruether and star Luise Großmann (Luiii) return for this American remake joined by new costar Ving Rhames. The film is mostly a two-hander between Großmann and Rhames but the cast also includes Jordan E. Cooper and Joanna Cassidy (this is somewhat expanded from the german original which was purely a two-hander).

In 2014, Toni (Luiii), a determined young German immigrant in New York, seeks out Elliott (Golden Globe winner Ving Rhames), a former fighter turned gym owner in gritty Bushwick. Their first encounter is met with resistance – Elliott dismisses the idea of training her. Yet an unexpected bond blossoms, breaking through the boundaries of boxing and exploring the complexities of respect, love, family, and personal conviction. The climax of their final showdown alters Toni’s destiny profoundly. Years later, now a pioneering female boxing manager, Toni faces her biggest night: guiding Payne (Jordan E. Cooper) into his first championship fight – while her young daughter’s health back home is at stake.

The film takes place across two time periods in Toni’s life and we frequently flash forward or back 8 years. This device i found to be poorly used and really confused the pacing and narrative of the film. The problem is that it happens so early in the film as we are still being introduced to the characters and makes slightly more sense as the film goes on, this future story also does not really reference Ving Rhames charecter in a meaningful way and introduces other characters which we don’t really get to know.

As a boxing movie this film does lean more towards dialogue and training sequences rather than footage of fights and technique and there is some great monologues and moments here but mostly it misses the mark, I also did not find Luiii compelling as the star who we are supposed to root for here; possibly there is something lost in translation from the german version but i didnt see much depth from her performance or understand her motivations. Ving Rhames does give an unusually subtle and dramatic performance as ex boxer/coach and gym owner Elliot and breathes life into this charecter despite the somewhat limited material.

I should caveat that I have not seen the original film so i was reviewing this version purely on it’s own merits.

2/5 –  Ving Rhames gives a great subtle performance but the film as a whole fails to land it’s punches. 

---

Rent Uppercut now on Prime Video