The Boxer

    Usually, it takes a lot to impress me in movies. The characters and story have to be good, the acting and dialogue need to be well done, etc. By and large this film accomplished that. The performances are excellent, especially Day-Lewis, and the story deals with the conflict between the Catholics and the Protestants. There were people on either side who simply wanted to keep stirring things up and causing problems while Danny (Day-Lewis) rebuilds a boxing ring that allows both parties to come in and box. This seems to work for a while but there are still people who feel threatened by peace on both sides. There is a lot of that going on in the world.
    I will say this though, this film wasn't completely engaging. It's not because I'm impatient or anything, if I'm hooked, I'll enjoy it. I never really felt pulled in completely during the movie. Perhaps it's because I knew nothing of the central conflict in the movie and I'm usually not very engaged by films that deal with foreign problems. It's not that I don't care what happens in other countries, it's just I usually think,"Yeah, okay. I know there are problems in your country and there are problems in every other country as well. Since I live in the U.S., I'm usually more worried about what goes on here since that directly affects me.
     But, on the other hand, this was a good film and it certainly made me think since I actually thought Catholics and Protestants were by and large getting along now. But I guess some people never want to let go of the past.