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Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

This film is a very touching Rocky-like story with a twist that comes up far more often than people think, and it's about time it was finally represented in a film.Tommy is a young boxer with potential who is nurtured by an elderly boxing manager who happens to be gay. Together, they make a great boxing team, and Tommy thrives. In the end, Tommy is offered a million dollars to go with a new management company - and if he takes this offer he must leave behind his old manager, the man who helped to make him into the man he became.The film could have been about anti-Jewish prejudice or anti-black prejudice or anti-Moslem prejudice or any other kind of foolish prejudice. But today the one remaining prejudice that rules the sports world is the foolish prejudice against gay athletes and coaches. Films like this may help people to put a face on this injustice, and see how absurd and counterproductive it is.I won't tell how the film ends, except to say that it is realistic. The performances in "Fighting Tommy Riley" are outstanding. Though probably made with a small budget, this film feels as big and as real as its important subject matter.

"Fighting Tommy Riley" is one of the absolute best movies I have ever seen. Many critics called it comparable to "Million Dollar Baby". The fact is, Hillary Swank did a phenomenal job in that one, but the prize goes to JP Davis for the better movie. I was honestly compelled throughout the entire movie, so many secrets, so much passion, love, and loyalty. This movie, I agree, was underexposed and I can only hope that everyone spreads the word about it. I would dub this a MUST SEE film. Another fact that makes this movie a complete success is that JP Davis, wrote, produced, and acted the movie. ALL of the performances were outstanding! And I do think that we will be seeing more of JP Davis as his career will soar very soon. This movie was absolutely a great film and I recommend it to everyone that asks me to tell them the name of a movie I think to be good. This is a for sure classic movie and I could see it being remade and re-released in the future, however I doubt it will be as good. As someone that wants to be an actor I must say, JP Davis acting, producing, and writing the movie is something I would aspire to do...and so should every actor. He throws the audience twists and turns and a PERFECT ending!

It's all been done before, more or less. The production values were pretty low on the spectrum. The actor playing the manager was so hyped that I was almost certain to be in for the letdown I felt. The ending, to me, felt a bit unfair to one character's integrity.It isn't anything to write home about, plot-wise. Washed up boxer/manager turned English teacher "discovers" angry, washed-up boxer and former Olympic hopeful. Each has their demons. Each needs each other. Both start to blossom until circumstances test them both professionally and emotionally. Sound familiar? Adding a few doses of character study and melodrama to an old mix does not make it any less familiar (and yellowing with age).I'm waiting, truth be told, for a new kind of boxing movie to emerge. The variations on Stallone have so little left to tweak out; and even though I liked both this movie and Clint Eastwood's recent foray into the genre, the attempt of each to manipulate and personalize the genre feels contrived, often forced, and derivative. Even the one part of this movie that seems significantly different, that the manager is highly literate and even poetic, somehow seems a bit stilted in the overall course of the film.Still, the movie has some real power, and even some real surprise. JP Davis (and maybe I am saying this because he is exceptionally sexy) has a real smoldering star quality about his performance, as well as a few beautifully touching choices as an actor. His reaction to some darker developments in the story, both as character and as actor, seem just subtle and nuanced enough to be believable, wrenching and even quietly surprising. After viewing the film, I also realized that one part of the usual formula had a bit of a shift in this film: while the main character certainly has his clichéd meteoric rise in rank, there are moments where he actually wins fights but shows bad form and is anything but coveted in the mainstream boxing circles. Most boxing films seem to make greatness in the sport all about winning, knocking people out regardless of form and execution, while this one makes a few very small steps to point out that a win is not all that is being looked at in championship fighting.Overall, I had a good feeling from the movie and would recommend it. It left me thinking, ad I always appreciate that in a film. I wish the manager had been less about pretty words and trite mantras, however. I wish that there had been an ending that was a little less manipulative. I still cannot deny that I was moved and even quite thrown back by the writer/star whom I had never heard of, and whom I believe may be a force to reckon with if the right people find him.

FIGHTING TOMMY RILEY has so many things going for it that it is amazing it didn't do well in the box office. Perhaps audiences are tired of 'boxing movies' ('Million Dollar Baby' sort of usurped that position for a while), but this is not a typical boxing movie: Fighting Tommy Riley takes risks all over the place and that is what helps make it so fine.Written by J.P. Davis who also plays the title role, the story is less about Tommy Riley than it is about his trainer Marty Goldberg (long-established fine character actor Eddie Jones): this is not a self promoting Rocky/Sylvester Stallone story, fine as that films series was. For a first time writer and actor and directed by first time director Eddie O'Flaherty and cast with unknowns except for Eddie Jones, this film is a 'knockout' (pardon the pun).Tommy Riley is a young and gifted boxer on the skids, disillusioned by his loss at an attempt at the Olympic trials, an unfortunate lapse of self-confidence that has destroyed his relationship with his girl Stephanie (Christina Chambers) and forced him to do menial labor just to survive. Concurrently we meet Marty Goldberg, an obese, has been trainer who left the ring because of a dark demon he harbors and has turned to teaching high school English. Marty lives with his dog Lucy in squalor, surrounded by the many books he reads and quotes, memorabilia of a ruined career, and sleeping pills. His one friend is feisty Diane Stone (Diane Taylor) who Marty salvaged some time ago from her own downward plunge. Diane is a boxing promoter looking for a client. When Marty and Diane and Tommy collide the beginning of a vigorous training life begins and each of the three gains a resurgence of self-respect.Both Tommy and Marty carry a load of baggage demons that eventually surface and as Tommy slowly builds as a fighter ready for competition, Marty's devotion to the kid's career becomes more than professional and an unfortunate but inevitable encounter changes their path toward glory. With Diane's promotion Tommy gains the recognition of big time promoter Riley (Scot Belsky) and Tommy is torn between the promise of fame and wealth and his emotional commitment to Marty: his initial impulse to go with Riley (which is contingent on leaving Marty as a trainer) is met with resistance until Marty humbly encourages Tommy to go for his career rather than his obligation to Marty. The result of Tommy's decision tells the story of the film and to reveal it would be unfair.Eddie Jones and JP Davis are absolutely superb is these very demanding roles. Rarely as a film about sports been influenced by the presence of sexual preferences, and Eddie Jones handles this enigmatic characteristic with extreme sensitivity and makes us all feel his anguish at the slings that life has thrown his way. And the manner in which Davis finesses both the initial advances from Jones and then gradually alters his response in understanding Jones' behavior is nothing short of miraculous acting. Director O'Flaherty has created a brilliant little film from Davis' fine script and one can only hope there will be more collaborations as excellent as this.The cinematography (Michael Fimognari) and musical score (Lee Sanders and Tim Simonec) keep the mood of the film flowing. Bravo to all concerned not only for a fine story well done, but also for the courage to focus on sub rosa sexual themes with all the sensitivity this film represents. Highly Recommended.Grady Harp