fightingtommyriley

FIGHTING TOMMY RILEY

SYNOPSIS
Tommy Riley is a self-destructive boxer
with raw talent and a fiery temper.
Marty Goldberg is a trainer with inner
demons too dark to bring to light. As a
team, these two volatile opposites just
may have what it takes to find the
second chance they never had.
Boasting extraordinary performances
that are devastatingly poignant and
vigorously uplifting, Fighting Tommy
Riley is a powerful look at the world of
men, both in and outside the ring.

REVIEW

Stunningly photographed, impeccably
acted and written with an insiders
feeling, Fighting Tommy Riley packs a
fierce left hook in its tale of
homosexual repression. Tommy Riley
(Jones) is a boxer with a temper and a
flawed past spotted by trainer Marty
Goldberg ( Davis) in a small local
training gym. Marty is an older,
overweight, closeted homosexual who
is immediately attracted to the boxer
with the great face and an even more
beautiful body. One of the definite
advantages of this film is that we get to
look at the splendid Eddie Jones in
nearly every shot – there is one butt
shot and a partial frontal. Marty and
his partner Diane decide to manage
Tommy’s faltering boxing career. They
first get him to focus and listen. They
physically bring him to perfection and
they book him great fights that make
the man shine in the ring. All during
this period we see Marty fixate on the
man. He gives him massages with
trembling hands and he sets up a gym
in his garage for the boxer. It all comes
to head when Marty invites Tommy to
his cabin for a month of intense
training. Marty finally can’t control his
wandering, massaging hands and the
boxer says, “What are you doing?” But
this is a team and the boxer owes his
restored career to Marty.

This tragically gorgeous drama
presents two difficult characters in a
classic story we feel immense power
from. While many arenas are open to
openly gay men, the boxing ring is not
one of them. This is a place of
repression and the terrible things that
result from it. Fighting Tommy Riley
may not be how most of us live our
lives, but that’s what a good film does
– it takes us into other lives – in this
case the life of a tortured homosexual.

Scott Cranin