Watch Fighting For Free

Such a frustrating disappointment

One of my all time favorites.

Crappy film

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

I ended up watching this movie with my significant other, because we heard about it from a friend from our Monday Bible Study group. They recommended it because my wife Alex and I have struggled with a similar situation. I've admittedly been around the block when it comes to internet pornography, and at one point my marriage was on the brink because it got out of hand.SPOILERS AHEADThe movie starts showing a boxing scene and switches repeatedly throughout between a man struggling to not watch porn, and fighting a bald scary looking man labeled in the credits as "Demon", trying to show the two situations as similar fights that need to be overcome. The main character, Luke kisses his wife goodbye before trying to make a sandwich, but halfway through applying the mayo he looks at his computer with fear in his eyes knowing he can't possibly resist his natural urges. It goes back to the fight scene, which shows him losing pretty badly to Demon, who I assume is meant to represent the demon of pornographic lusts. Just as he types the word "pornography" into a google search bar, he gets a call from his wife who seems to know exactly what he is doing but Luke lies and says he is just doing household chores. This is a familiar scene to me, on account that more than once my wife has tried calling me when she's not home to check in, only to find me out of breath and acting suspicious. Luke was able to resist his urges for about fifteen minutes as he took out the trash and did some other chores, but eventually gives in and you see a grown 40-50 year old man weeping at his computer screen for being unable to not watch porn. I don't know about most people, but I find it hard to be aroused when crying. At this point in the boxing ring, he is down and almost out and his coach is criticizing him for not going to the gym anymore. This is complimented by a flashback to he and his wife in bed while she asks why he no longer reads his bible or goes to Bible Study. Eventually the movie resolves by him smashing his computer in the driveway as his wife comes home crying and hugging him out of happiness for overcoming his addiction. He wins the fight against Demon and the crowd is congratulatory. There is an outer monologue about how every man has to fight this fight everyday, the good fight for being a better person and resisting your inner nature.Now, as for my personal thoughts on this movie as someone who has struggled with internet pornography, I found it nice to see some representation for a problem that me and several of my friends have dealt with and are dealing with. In today's day and age it's almost impossible not to see a naked woman on every corner, be it in McDonald's advertisements or on Facebook on your phone. When there is an entire database at your fingertips of all the sinful images and videos your heart could desire, it's almost impossible to resist and stay true to what you know is right. That being said, I wasn't a fan of how the movie portrayed porn addicts. Not every person struggling is a 40 year old man crying at his computer, and the way he dealt with it wasn't through prayer or seeking community help, but rather through smashing his computer. This is hardly a solution in today's world where a computer is necessary for work or family. If there is one thing I would change about this movie, it would be the ending. The analogy to a boxing match seemed fitting enough, because it does seem like your inner demons are beating you constantly and sometimes it's impossible to get back in the ring and tackle them again and again, but truly deep down you know it is the right thing to do.

I don't know what the deal is, but the dialogue in the movie is hard to listen! They sound terrible. I understand slang and street talk, but I don't think I've hard a proper sentence being said in the movie. It's tiring and off-putting. As for the story-line - a complete 'been there, done that', but let's not kid ourselves... No matter how many times people make this movie, if the production is right and you have a name on the movie poster, people are going to watch it. Same goes for many other stories that are being recycled over and over again. All in all, that's not something I'm holding against this flick. On the other hand, screenplay had to be better. It lacks flow. It has a lot of smudge and blur and in my opinion, this is not a movie for that kind of artistic expression or message. That alone dulls the feeling. If it was made a bit sharper, it would've been a solid thing. I feel like the whole focus was shifted on Howard and that's OK, but I don't think that the whole movie had to be made like this just to reflect the shadiness of his character. Giving it a 6 and even that is a good will gesture.

I'm not complaining that the movie din't have much of a fighting as the title suggest. I can understand what the makers are trying to show, but it is just plain boring. This tries to be like "The Wrestler" but it just came off as being silly instead of being realistic and intriguing, although it tries to be realistic. There is nothing really entertaining about this movie, plus the main protagonist wins most of the fights by pure luck for most of the time. Alas, the climactic rooftop showdown is rather dull, much better is the marble hallway brawl against a kinetic Asian opponent .The best thing about the film is Tatum's interaction with Howard, who offers a full-on, layered performance that actually makes the whole film worth seeing. The heart of the film is the relationship between these two men, but the script seems afraid to explore it in any real depth. Instead, it tilts toward the unconvincing romance between Shawn and Zulay.The fights, thankfully, don't noticeably include the over-the-top sound effects often included in Hollywood fight films (like the "woosh" of fists and the "thuds" of landed punches), but instead keeps the more realistic, skin-to-skin slapping sound, which, in my view, made the film much more gritty and, to an extent, more believable.There's nothing much to say about the movie. You can give it a watch if you see this when your flipping the channels at your home and nothing else better is on TV. I give it 4.5 out of 10.

The premise of this movie was creative and could have succeeded. That is where the kudos end. First the Directing was just atrocious. It seems to me a film that had little rhyme or reason with many unbelievable circumstances. To start, you had a known professional boxer delegating himself to a street fight with an old college nemesis. The lead character who supposedly had a good upbringing , seemed illiterate, with one double negative sentence after another. I could buy it a little that fate and bad decisions can bring him down to a street hustler. All in all , many things just did not mesh. The love interest of the film was an adult, with a child and an exertive personality but somehow her mother figure, grandmother was able to manipulate her about relationships and sex. The casting and dialogue of this film was perhaps worse than the directing. Terrence Howard and Luis Guzman the anointed tough guys of this film were, to put it bluntly , wimps. Terrence Howard sounded and behaved like he were a rabbi as opposed to the underground bookie and ring leader of fixed fights. Luis Guzman and his entourage were the same. Other than the street fights and a lame , funny attempt of Howard being murdered by Guzman; There was nothing to suggest that this organized crime ring would as much as swat a fly. Throw in some stupid lines and you have a film that just did not make it to the last bell.