Day Of The Fight

It takes some cojones for a first-time filmmaker to take on the spirit of Stanley Kubrick. But Jack Huston does just this for his directorial debut Day Of The Fight, not only invoking the title of the Kube’s 1951 documentary but also appropriating its premise, following a New York boxer in the run-up to a big middleweight battle. As well as squaring up with Kubrick, Huston is also sparring with Scorsese’s Raging Bull — Day Of The Fight is in black and white and features a rare modern appearance by Joe Pesci (also an executive producer) — and his own grandfather John Huston, who made his own terrific pugilist picture Fat City. If Huston Jr never scales the heights of this heavyweight trio, Day Of The Fight still shows signs of his promise as a director, if not a writer.

In Kubrick’s version, which is only 12 minutes long, the day of the fight centres on middleweight contender Walter Cartier, who goes to morning mass, eats a huge steak and, so the commentary constantly tells us, is crippled by all the waiting around. In Huston’s 108-minute incarnation, the conceit is padded out with overwrought backstory embroidered with brief, ineffective flashbacks. ‘Irish Mike’ — or ‘Mikey’ — Flannigan (Michael C. Pitt) was a contender whose promise was stymied by a drink-driving accident that put him behind bars and left him with a potentially fatal brain aneurysm. We join him ten years later when he has wangled a comeback fight — he’s placed a huge bet on himself with the local bookie — and is spending the day wandering around the streets making contact and amends with the people in his life.

Huston draws a strong performance from his leading man

During this middle-section, we have good actors doing strong work with questionable material. Ron Perlman is Mikey’s combative trainer, the kind of neighbourhood guy who says things like, “Give him a message from me: ‘Fuck you!’” Steve Buscemi, in likeable mode, delivers in his one scene as a kind-hearted uncle; Nicolette Robinson registers as ex-wife Jessica; and John Magaro stands out as Mikey’s former friend Patrick, now a streetwise priest who can switch between pearls of advice and shooting the shit on a dime. But best of all is Pesci as Mikey’s abusive father, now in a care home, stricken following a stroke. It’s a wordless masterclass, whose impact is almost undone by a completely misjudged late-in-the-day reappearance.

The screenplay is littered with stock situations, New York stereotypes, tin-eared dialogue (“You were always my hero, even when you weren’t,” Mikey tells his old man) and no semblance of dramatic urgency. But Huston the writer is well served by Huston the filmmaker. The film is shot in beautiful monochrome — take a bow, cinematographer Peter Simonite — that does much to evoke a power that doesn’t seem present on the page (also see — or hear — Ben McDiarmid’s melancholy moving score). Huston also draws a strong performance from his leading man. His co-star in Boardwalk Empire, Pitt imbues Mikey with a sweetness and soul without ever undermining the character’s toughness or hardscrabble life. The big final fight couldn’t lace Raging Bull’s gloves — the conclusion is ridiculous — but Pitt mostly keeps Day Of The Fight honest.