A boxing movie is a rite of passage for every young actor trying to prove themselves. They get to show off physically and talent-wise with their abilities. Bleed For This is Miles Teller’s turn to strut his stuff. Teller succeeds at telling Vinny Pazienza’s tale, but Bleed For This adds nothing special to an already crowded boxing genre. Hell, even the Italian boxing genre is crowded.
Vinny Paz (Teller) has been in the doldrums in his weight class after previously winning the boxing title. At the behest of his new coach Kevin Rooney (Aaron Eckhart), Vinny moves up 2 sizes and shocks the world, becoming the champ again. But before he can defend his title, Vinny gets in a car crash that paralyzes him. His mother Louise (Katey Sagal) and former manager Lou (Ted Levine) want him to quit fighting and move on, but Vinny tells his dad Angelo (Ciaran Hinds) that he thinks he will box again.
Boxing has this version of the underdog story ten times over: Rocky Balboa, Adnois Creed, etc. Vinny has a crazy family, which The Fighter covered better. Vinny’s family is in his business like Jake La Motta. Also, the story can’t quite decide if Vinny does this from within, or if he needed people to help guide him, leaving the character murky. The story, Ben Younger’s direction, and the family generality mire Bleed For This in mediocre filmography, mostly because boxing movies carry a gigantic cinematic baggage.
The acting saves the movie from being forgettable. Miles Teller acquits himself well as the Pazmanian Devil. The actor digs deep to channel the drive Vinny Paz must have to keep putting himself in harms way. He also looks and boxes the part well. Aaron Eckhart is very good as his manager Kevin, a man with demons and baggage himself. Eckhart has a lot of fun being a 2nd fiddle loose cannon since Teller dominates the screen with each word/look. Ciaran Hinds and Ted Levine have lots of fun bickering with each other, and Katey Sagal plays the terrified mom role to perfect execution.
Time won’t help Bleed For This, with one exception: maybe we see this as the early promise of Miles Teller’s hopeful career. Were this movie to have come out a decade/15 years ago, Vinny Paz’s story would have been more riveting and memorable. As is, its still a fun romp with a crazy Italian family with a relative who boxes. Wait…that’s probably redundant.