Sean Ellis' sports drama is ironically marked by the past, but still packs enough punch to work.
Orlando Bloom on His Crazy Diet for His New Movie 'The Cut'
By Siddhant Adlakha
These days, boxing films are such an overplayed genre that it’s difficult for a filmmaker to innovate how the sport is presented on screen. Sean Ellis’ “The Cut” finds a way around that problem by focusing on the physical and psychological struggles outside the ring, particularly the grueling battle to make weight. The film tries several things at once, including a flashback structure that doesn’t quite work, but its impact ultimately comes down to Orlando Bloom’s visceral, transformative performance as a nameless Irish fighter.
Bloom’s protagonist — referred to in press releases as “the boxer” and, frustratingly, not at all in the film — appears in a professional boxing match exactly once, in “The Cut.” During the film’s brief prologue, the skilled fighter seems well on his way to another victory when something mysterious and unseen distracts him from what’s off-screen — something in the ether that only he can see — resulting in his opponent gaining the upper hand and leaving a deep, career-threatening gash above his eye.
