This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.
If Sir Edwin Sandys told the characters from Bruiser his famous saying, “Honesty is the best policy,” he would get punched in the face. Maybe Lizzo got it right, Truth Hurts. And also, why men great till they gotta be great? Well said.
It’s summer break, and instead of hanging out traveling the world with his rich high school girlfriend, Darious (Jalyn Hall) has to go back to his poor hometown with his well meaning parents Malcolm (Shamier Anderson) and Monica (Shinelle Azoroh). Darious’s hometown “friends” bully him because of his schooling. After one beatdown, Darious runs to the river to clean up, and runs into Porter (Trevante Rhodes), a nomad who gives the kid some lessons in self defense.
Props to Bruiser for looking at the dark side of the real world. At first, Darious, Malcolm, Monica, appear to be a happy if overstressed family, working for the goal of making life better for their son Darious. Now it might seem like Porter is going to come in like a hell demon and heel turn the poor kid, but Warren’s script is much more grounded and interesting. At first Porter is almost a blessing: he helps Darious grow his self confidence and learn some new ways about how the world might work. But as we learn more about how Porter knows Monica and Malcolm from the past, those early interactions grow very quickly sour. Foundationally, Malcolm and Monica distrust the unknown Porter with their son. Little mistakes (like Porter returning his son home an hour late), burn inside especially Malcolm, and the initial decent relationship Malcolm has with his son crumbles as Porter exposes the cracks Malcolm has tried to cover up in himself. Little by little, the situation escalates, with all these adults worried about who is raising their son that Darious gets treated like a pawn, unable to understand what is going on.
While Jalyn Hall is at the center of Bruiser, he mostly has to look scared or sad, reacting to the real stars of the movie. Shamier Anderson and Trevante Rhodes have been excellent in other projects, but they really get a chance to flex physically and thespianically in this movie. Both play different sides of Porter’s blind snake tattoo. Rhodes is the boundary pusher, ready to fulfill his life’s purpose by teaching Darious his truth about the world, unafraid to ruffle feathers in the process. Anderson might be better though; he’s a coiled snake, backed into a corner that the only recourse he sees is to lash out viciously.
I remember being near an emotional brawl in high school. When the hurt is that deep, your best recourse is to get as far away as possible and hope the fire dies out on its own eventually. Because if you don’t Bruiser shows the consequences of getting cause in the flames. In my case, multiple earrings were pulled from earlobes; I shudder thinking about it to this day.