The Featherweight

Last updated
The Featherweight
Directed byRobert Kolodny
Written bySteve Loff
Produced by
Starring
Edited by Robert Greene
Production
companies
Release date
  • September 3, 2023 (2023-09-03)(Venice)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Featherweight is a 2023 American biographical sports drama film directed by Robert Kolodny, written by Steve Loff, and starring James Madio as professional boxer Willie Pep. [1] It premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on September 3, 2023. [2]

Contents

Plot

Set in 1964, a direct cinema camera crew follows Willie Pep, retired two-time world featherweight boxing champion. Now living in Hartford, Connecticut with his wife Linda, an aspiring actress half his age, a drug-addled son, his Italian immigrant parents, mounting debts and the feeling of faded glory ... Pep decides to make a return to the ring. [3]

Cast

Production

Filming occurred in Hartford, Connecticut in late 2021, utilizing real locations from Willie Pep's life. [8] Kolodny cast both professional actors and locals to heighten the nonfiction aesthetic of the film. [9] Aside from Robert Kolodny, who spent the years as a documentary cinematographer on films like Procession and All the Beauty and the Bloodshed , the team behind the film involved several celebrated filmmakers from the documentary community, including Steve James as executive producer and Robert Greene as editor.

Reception

The film received a five minute standing ovation at its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival. [10] It received critical praise with indiewire comparing the cinéma vérité to John Cassavetes [11] and Dana Thomas calling it a "mash-up Mean Streets and Raging Bull " in The Style Files. [12] The New Yorker's Richard Brody called it an "intricately detailed mockumentary of the 1964 end times of the boxer Willie Pep's career; eerily close incarnations of the era, an undertow of trauma behind the drive, vanity behind the ferocity". [13] It went on to be selected as the closing film of the 54th International Film Festival of India [14] and the showcase screening of the Museum of the Moving Image's First Look Festival.

The film has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on five reviews. [15]

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References

  1. ↑ Frater, Patrick (October 14, 2021). "Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way and Singapore's Golden Ratio Producing 'Pep' Boxing Biopic". Variety. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Biennale Cinema 2023 | The Featherweight". La Biennale di Venezia. 2023-07-13. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  3. ↑ Saito, Stephen (2023-09-03). "Robert Kolodny's "The Featherweight" - Venice 2023 Film Review". The Moveable Fest. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  4. ↑ Day, Cassandra (November 7, 2021). "Leonardo DiCaprio brings the story of Willie Pep, the boxing great from Middletown, to life". The Middletown Press. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Arnott, Christopher (October 26, 2021). "Long-delayed movie about Connecticut boxing legend Willie Pep set to begin shooting in Hartford". Hartford Courant. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  6. ↑ Grobar, Matt (September 29, 2021). "Willie Pep Boxing Biopic Starring James Madio, Keir Gilchrist & Ron Livingston Set To Enter The Ring". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  7. 1 2 Arnott, Christopher (November 9, 2021). "'Pep' movie, about Connecticut boxing icon Willie Pep, has started filming at St. Francis, West Hartford home, Hartford Club". Hartford Courant. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  8. ↑ Altman, Jim (November 17, 2021). "A touch of Hollywood in downtown Hartford; Camera rolls on Willie Pep film". WTIC-TV. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Movie About Famed Connecticut Boxer Willie Pep Filming in Hartford". WVIT. November 8, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  10. ↑ Gyarkye, Lovia (2023-09-03). "'The Featherweight' Review: A Poetic Tribute to Boxing Champion Willie Pep". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  11. ↑ Solomons, Adam (2023-09-03). "'The Featherweight' Review: Robert Kolodny's Debut Film Is as Agile as Its Irrepressible Protagonist". IndieWire. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  12. ↑ https://substack.com/@danathomas
  13. ↑ https://twitter.com/tnyfrontrow/status/1769021960694960149
  14. ↑ Ramachandran, Naman (2023-11-07). "'Catching Dust,' 'The Featherweight' to Bookend Goa Film Festival, Michael Douglas to Deliver Masterclass". Variety. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  15. ↑ "The Featherweight". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
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