Rumble Through the Dark
Fight flick clichéd yet promising.
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I dig a good fight flick and while “Rumble Through the Dark” (opening in select theaters Friday, Nov. 3 including Indianapolis-area locations GQT Brownsburg 8 GDX, Emagine Noblesville and Showtime Cinema in Mooresville, Ind. and available on VOD beginning Friday, Nov. 10) is fight-centric, it’s first and foremost a character study of a man and the lengths to which he’ll go in order to retain his childhood home and protect his aging mother.
We’re deep in the Mississippi Delta. Jack Boucher (Aaron Eckhart) is a prizefighter who’s on his last legs and deeper in debt to crime queenpin Big Momma Sweet (Marianne Jean-Baptiste, playing way against type). Boucher’s just won his latest bout with intentions to pay Sweet, but a hustler named Skelly (Joe Hursley) weasels his way into the boxer’s truck with intentions of selling him out to the lady lawbreaker.
A skirmish ensues, which causes Boucher to crash his vehicle in a field. A concussed Boucher flees the scene leaving his ride and cash behind and Skelly at death’s door. Roving carnival workers Baron (Ritchie Coster) and Annette (Bella Thorne) happen upon the money and Skelly. Baron’s taken a shine to Annette and gifts her the funds, which draws the attention of fellow carny Ricky Joe (Mike McColl).
Ricky Joe makes a move to steal Annette’s money at a gas station and who should be there to intervene on her behalf – none other than Boucher. He doles out a brutal beating to the would-be robber. Boucher and Annette strike up a burgeoning friendship of sorts. She accompanies him to visit his mother Mary Anne (Jeanne Caldarera) at her nursing home. A startling semi-conclusion is made – Boucher may in fact be Annette’s father – and as such she returns his money to him.
Boucher, with Annette in tow, visits Sweet hoping to repay his debts. She has other ideas. Sweet wants Boucher to bare-knuckle box a mountain of a man appropriately named Ax (Derek Russo) and bet on himself to emerge victorious. If he dies she’s removed a thorn from her side. If he wins he’ll get to keep his childhood home.
“Rumble” is directed by brothers Graham and Parker Phillips (the former is an actor known for “The Good Wife” and “Blockers”) and scripted by Michael Farris Smith (adapting his own novel “The Fighter”). This is the second time Smith has adapted one of his books into a movie within the last month – the other is “Desperation Road” (my review here). I preferred director Nadine Crocker’s picture to the Phillips brothers’, but not by a wide margin.
The best reasons to check out “Rumble” are Eckhart’s central performance (it took me a while to acclimate to his southern accent, but he cuts to the emotional core of Boucher and the 55-year-old got into great shape to convincingly play a fighter) and the concluding fight sequence (it’s a bruiser of a brawl as shot by David J. Myrick, edited by Ned Thorne, foleyed by Gonzalo Espinoza and Jackson Kitchens, coordinated by David Conk and performed by Eckhart, Russo and Eckhart’s double C.J. Padera). Thorne is fine, but doesn’t fare quite as well Eckhart. In spite of this, the movie actually/admittedly gets better once the two start sharing more scenes.
“Rumble” is a tad clichéd, but shows promise. I’ll be curious to see how the Phillips brothers build upon the filmmaking momentum they displayed in that final fight.