When it comes to film, there is no other sport that has delivered such powerful and emotional dramas on the big screen as boxing. It's the personal drama they delve into that makes them so relatable to audiences. That's not to say we've all climbed the Rocky Steps or assaulted family members as a result of paranoia though.

Many have been based on true stories and that is certainly the case with Bleed For This, a film based on the astonishingly courageous real life experiences of Vinny Pazienza.

Played by Miles Teller, Pazienza was a World Champion Boxer who was left not knowing whether he'd be able to walk again after a near fatal car accident caused severe spinal damage. Rather than let it defeat him, Pazienza aimed to get back in the ring, setting in motion one of the greatest comebacks in sporting history.

The biggest draw of Bleed For This are its performances, particularly the knock-out lead one given by Miles Teller, one of the hottest young actors in Hollywood today. Teller never loses the cockiness of Pazienza, even when he faces a life without boxing, turning him into such a remarkable character.

I really enjoyed the pairing of Teller and Aaron Eckhart as his trainer, Kevin Rooney. Eckhart hasn't really had much to shout about in recent years but I do think he's a good actor, showcasing it here with a good performance. Ciarán Hinds and Katey Sagal deliver fine performances as Vinny's mother and father, taking me a while to realise it was even them with the change in appearance.

The best boxing films are the ones that focus more on the goings on outside of the ring than inside it, and that's where Ben Younger gets it right with Bleed For This. Yes, a big part of the story is Vinny wanting to get back in the ring but Younger chooses to focus on the man himself and how driven an individual he was to get back to his best in the ring.

Younger also delivers some energetic boxing sequences, using quick edits and excellent sound mixing to almost feel like you're taking the punches at times. The brutality of the sport is wince- inducing at times so the film does warrant its rating however, the moment that had everyone wincing was when Vinny has the screws taken out of his head after six months of wearing the halo designed to help his neck recover. It's a moment that perfectly captures the severity of Vinny's accident as well as the aforementioned cockiness, Teller playing it for laughs.

If you're a fan of boxing films, Bleed For This is a film you will want to see. Don't dismiss it entirely if you aren't a big fan of boxing films because there is plenty to admire in this portrayal of one of the most inspirational comebacks in sporting history.

No spoilers here. I went to a screening last night in Los Angeles for 'Bleed for This'.

It's an excellent movie that delivers solid performances from the supporting cast. Oscar nominations abound.

Aaron Eckhart comes through with a dead-on take of Kevin Rooney (all the way down to the walk) and should be a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination.

Miles Teller shows a depth beyond his years in his portrayal of the Pazmanian Devil.

Highly recommend.

Gary Randall Craveonline.com

Based on a true story, Vinny Pazienza overcomes a terrible car accident to return to the sport he truly loves, Boxing. I was a bit hesitant to see this movie because of all the previous movies about fighters. However the director quickly immerses you into Vinny's world and you are immediately hooked. What I liked most about the movie was how all the characters were so believable. The close family relationship, the mother's ritual when all the relatives are glued to the tube, the family dinners, ornaments etc. Everyone has a lot of soul and individuality. Vinny's determination is all important, but he has the affection and love from friends and family. Most of all he has his coach, portrayed by Aaron Eckhart. A man who is fighting is own demons of being a has been, wanting a winner, but also knowing that a coach must do what is best for those under his charge, regardless of what is best for him or others.

Miles Teller has become an exceptional actor of his time. I was excited to see his turn as Vinny Paz, the Boxer with the broken spine. A story of overcoming impossible odds and agonizing pain seems like a role that was tailor maid for Teller. When we last saw him, he was getting slapped silly by an enraged jazz professor. Are we going to get Whiplash-ed again? Unfortunately, not this time. Among moments of greatness, Bleed for This is a totally missed opportunity. There is so much you could do with this material. Why couldn't we go deeper into the mind of Vinny? Why couldn't we see, in nuanced ways, how tortured a champion boxer could be when he realizes that he can never fight again? We do see this almost happening in the painful scenes of Vinny trying to lift a bar with his severed spine, and the brutal scene where Vinny gets his headgear unscrewed with no anesthesia. It's so visceral and awful, you can actually feel the pain. But the rest of the film is a cornucopia of boxing tropes. It's The Fighter meets Raging Bull meets Southpaw.. and on and on. You've seen it all before.

Ben Younger has been rather quiet in recent years with a short directorial filmography, Boiler Room being one of my favourite films, that being released sixteen years ago. Younger writes, screenplays and directs this true story of one of the greatest comebacks in not just boxing history, but in the history of sport itself.

Vinny Pazienza, now legally know as Vinny Paz was the IBF World Lightweight Champion and then later the WBA World Jr. Middleweight Champion but had to relinquish the championship belt due having his neck broken in a near fatal car accident being told by doctors that he may not walk again, let alone fight again.

Miles Teller portrays Paz meticulously, giving yet another powerful performance possibly equal to his Whiplash, being undecided. He portrays the painful struggle back to recovery and beyond with the almost medieval Halo brace Paz had screwed into his skull for three months, yet this did not deter his training much to the protests of the doctors, family and friends.

It's got great performances from Aaron Eckhart, who plays legendary boxing trainer, Kevin Rooney, and Ciarán Hinds who plays his devoted father, going through the motions of glory to guilt, both having to deal with the decisions Paz makes which makes you question what you would do as friend or parent. Support him which could essential kill him? I think Eckhart is going for an Oscar nomination here.

It's well paced and focuses more on Paz himself as oppose to the fights that are very well choreographed and captured. There's impressive editing especially empathising the pain of both surgery, recovery and the blows, actually make some parts of the film uncomfortable to watch.

There's a good, gentle score from Julia Holter that enforces the emotional strong of the story; and is accompanied by a selection of eighties classics with a few tracks from the eccentric Willis Earl Beal giving a moody bluesy mode to the film. Check out the track "Too Dry To Cry."

It's great because, yes, it is a boxing movie, but it's about getting back up, fighting the only real adversary of self doubt, especially when everyone, and I mean everyone from friends and family tell you no. Having the courage and determination to not accept defeat, or is it delusional to believe in yourself, knowing the risks. Either way, it makes a grand basis for an incredible story of the ultimate comeback.

Running Time: 9 The Cast: 9 Performance: 9 Direction: 9 Story: 9 Script: 8 Creativity: 8 Soundtrack: 8 Job Description: 8 The Extra Bonus Points: 0 Would I buy the Bluray?: Yes, going next to Cinderella Man and The Hurricane.

77% 8/10

Feeling the lack is the first step to greatness. If you're fine with status quo you may never achieve something bigger. I'm pretty sure I have read something like this somewhere.

At least it's a fitting motto to „Bleed for This", the sports movie about this real-life young boxing champ who broke his neck and still managed to get back in form and claim another world champion belt.

More than that, Wikipedia says that he held it for over the next ten years. The guy's called Vinny Paz and he's 54 now, by the way.

So yes, it's another sports movie aiming „to the infinity and beyond"… but it doesn't go all Hollywood on our asses and actually manages to be a really good indie watch, having both heart and balls.

„Bleed for This" came out back in September and circled some festivals before reaching cinemas. The commercial success of the movie, sadly, hasn't been worthy of its tough-as-nails hero. It pretty much came and disappeared without a splash and hasn't gotten any award nominations either, big or small.

Quite why the producers and distributors didn't believe in the project enough to support it some, for Globes and Academy Awards campaign, at least, is beyond my comprehension. It's a true underdog story, also a sports movie – who doesn't like those, eh? – and also good movie in general.

(Probably the post-Trumpian USA needs more unpretentious happy tales like „La La Land" which has just managed to pick 7 out of 7 Globes.)

OK but what makes „Bleed for This" so great, then? Isn't there enough underdog and sports movies, award-winning or otherwise?

Well, I am glad you asked. In short, I like everything about it! The indie style, the atmosphere and feeling of the early 1990's working class USA, the great group of starring actors, the hardhitting boxing, the screenplay…

The result is not perfect – what is, anyway? – and one could nitpick about many things if wanted to.

For example, the movie runs near two hours which is not exactly a short amount of time… but one does not get a good sense of Vinny Paz's development as a champion sportsman, or even exactly how the recovery from the big accident went. Of course, it's all explained in passing, but it doesn't satisfy to the fullest.

Maybe it's just me because I enjoyed visiting Vinny's world, family and environment so much that I left the cinema wanting more. „Bleed for This" is one of those rather uncommon sports movies that is not afraid to let characters and story breathe and develop enough to lure us in, to make us want really be there for the characters, not just flashy action.

This kind of intimate connection to the movie mostly happens when its makers have strong personal connection with the whole thing too.

Seeing that Ben Younger is the director and the sole writer, we can assume it was a personal project and he makes the most out of everybody on screen.

The big name actors here are Miles Teller as Vinny Paz, Ciarán Hinds as his father (somehow I always confuse the guy with Alfred Molina) and Aaron Eckhart as his boxing trainer.

All the others have given good performances too, but these three are really worth every penny the producers had to spend on them. Which was probably not too much because the budget was about 6 million US dollars and shooting lasted for only 24 days.

They play it rough and raw, turning the characters into believable working-class heroes. Mark Wahlberg would have probably loved to be part of this experience. There are no showoff scenes so there's not much to talk about it, only enjoy it. Feel it, live it, breathe it!

I am especially happy about Aaron Eckhart choosing a worthwhile acting role again for a change. For most of the current decade, he has been doing boring commercial crap which is a world away from the works that made him known in the first place.

Here he seems to channel a younger less fat version of James Gandolfini which is enough for me to wish him a Supporting Actor Oscar, or at least a nomination.

And last but certainly not the least, „Bleed for This" cements Miles Teller's position as one of the most promising young American movie actors of his generation.

You almost remember him from big studio projects „Divergent" + „Insurgent" and 2015's „Fantastic Four" but he has also starred in a row of cool indie-er movies such as „The Spectacular Now" and „Whiplash".

The former quirky cool guy has transformed himself for the never- surrender-type boxer role but manages to turn what on paper seems like a cartoon character into living breathing human being. He should also get nominated for Oscar.

Ben Younger has previously only written and directed two feature length movies, 2000's really good „Boiler Room" and 2005's rather meh „Prime". It's nice to see him back with another success!

"Bleed for This" doesn't offer a biggest amount of boxing I have seen in a boxing movie. But I just read from IMDb that Teller was trained by Darrell Foster, who has trained fighters like Sugar Ray Leonard and helped Will Smith become Muhammad Ali for 2001's Ali.

Bleed for This a sports drama based on the champion boxer Vinny Pazienza and the accident that almost left him paralyzed. It does not stop him on the road to recovery in training to get back into the boxing ring. These films are suppose to make you feel a little inspirational seeing real life situations happening to real people. The film does show very little for the inspiration.

Vinny (Miles Teller) is a cocky boxer, who rigs his body weight to meet the requirements. After the car accident, that leaves him wearing a halo ring on his neck for six months to recover. And the doctors telling him he is unable to ever go back in the ring. He spends his day, eating junk food, watching day time TV, going to strip clubs, and hanging out with his personal trainer Kevin (Aaron Eckhart). Vinny decides that he needs to work harder to train himself to get back into the ring against the doctors wishes.

The positive things about Bleed for This is it tries to have a fun sense of 1980s direction with the music soundtrack. Also, the inspirational true story about a boxer never letting a severe injury from stopping him to doing what he is inspired to do. The climax of the boxing match as Vinny is risking himself from severing his spinal cord from a single bad throw that can paralyze him was cringe worthy. Also, Miles Teller did a great job in portraying Vinny Pazienza. Aaron Eckhart playing a balding out of shape trainer was also good.

The negative thing about the film besides knowing how the turn out and what will happen to the character ends. I felt like the direction could have been a little stronger with its inspirational tone. The film does so well in trying to have a fun 80s tone, or delivering great performances with the cast. To make you feel for the moment and making it memorable unlike the others does not have much going for the movie. It can get pretty slow in the middle of the film until Vinny tries to lift weights while recovering. The music score Julia Holter does so little in making a memorable score besides having a couple of beat down 80s song.

Overall, Bleed for This is a fair sports drama film that has good talent, and an inspired concept but does so little with trying so hard on making the movie emotional. The hard recovery the boxer went through will be inspired as a strong motivation but the film sadly will easily be forgotten. I will rate the film 3 out of 5 stars.

I go to the movies nearly every week with a movie group.  This group of guys is notorious for checking out every sports movie that comes along, so when a film about Champion Boxer Vinny Pazienza was announced, I knew that this would be on the docket.

And, I'm glad it was, for the most part.

BLEED FOR THIS tells the remarkable true story of a Boxing Champion who, after winning the championship, suffers a broken neck in an auto accident.  Doctors are concerned if he 'll ever walk again.  Pazienza is concerned with something else - will he ever fight again.  

It's an incredible story, one of true "triumph of the human spirit" that was just waiting to be told on screen and with the intense Miles Teller in the lead role, this movie had the makings of something special.  Joining Teller with strong performances are Katy Segal (as his mother), the always good Ciaran Hinds (as his father) and my new favorite actor, Aaron Eckhart, off his strong supporting performance in SULLY , with another strong supporting performance as Pazienza's trainer who sticks with him the whole way.

With these ingredients sitting there, this film was poised to be very good and since it was written and directed by the same person - Ben Younger (Boiler Room) - it was going to have a very specific, personal focus.

And that's where this movie falls short.

Younger, I think, fell in love with his script and was duty-bound to put every word, every gesture, every thought on film - and this drags it down.  We are treated to long periods of Teller, as Pazienze, struggling, thinking and working out on his own.  Not the items that make for great drama and by the time we get to the climactic fight at the end of the film (name me a boxing movie that doesn't have a climactic fight at the end of the film), I just didn't care enough about the outcome to be excited, I just wanted it to be over.

Overall, a "good enough" time.  If you enjoy sports films - and especially if you like boxing films - then you'll like this.  If you like fast action and stirring conflict, you might want to look elsewhere.

6 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank (ofMarquis)

I think Miles is the only one trying to act in this movie and not pantomime his character like other's seem to do. I get the whole New York/New Jersey thing but come on, not every girlfriend is slut and not every Sister is a bully. If this was portrayed in any of the promos, I wouldn't have watched it. I can't stand loud, bossy, bullying women or the men who are around them. If Vinnie was like this in real life, then he truly was and still is an inspiration but his family of women were not entertaining to watch. My guess is that he had to placate them even on film. Other than that, the movie is alright on it's own as his true story of over-coming pain, disappointment and a strong need to feel validated. I don't say vindicated because he was already before his accident, he just couldn't stop until HE was ready.

This is an excellent movie even for people that don't really enjoy boxing. This movie goes way beyond the sport. It's the mindset behind it that is portrayed. If you feel down and needs a heads up: this is the movie to watch!

After this movie, ask yourself again, what are my goals? Once you figured that out, it is easy, just do it, and ace it and never look back just focus on your goal and never stop.

I know it is easier said than done, there are going to be hurdles trying to stop you, but you just need to keep going.

you are the star

This my first IMDb review after years of reading them, upon leaving the cinema though I thought this deserved it. Full marks for this movie, Miles Teller for his performance but most of all for Vinny Paz ( Pazienza ) who this biography is about.

I saw this on a good size screen tonight with an enthusiastic audience, and we loved it. There were a lot of laughs throughout and a tension in the room, I really felt for this guy! Great performances from the whole cast and Miles Teller was on top form looking extremely buff. Nice to see Katey Segal looking fantastic as she always has . I wouldn't want to spoil this for anyone who hasn't seen it, although if you are a boxing fan you already know the story, just to say at the end of the film there was a round of applause, the Italians being the most vocal ha ha

I only wish there had been more ~ now I want to watch all this boxer's fights

Recommended!

The problem with BLEED FOR THIS is that the true story behind it is way more fascinating than the film itself which unfortunately doesn't get to be anything more than mundane. After having seen countless other comeback underdog themed films in the past, BLEED FOR THIS just seems so uninspired.

Miles Teller plays Vinny "The Pazmanian Devil" Pazienza, a boxer who shot to stardom after winning 2 world title fights. He's at the top of his game. But a near fatal car crash leaves him with spinal injury so bad the doctors think he may never walk again. But with the help of stubbornness and his trainer, Kevin Rooney (Aaron Eckhart), Vinny proves everybody wrong and not only does he get to walk again, he ultimately returns to the ring and reclaims his title belt. It's been deemed as one of the most incredible comebacks in sports history.

As I said earlier, the true story of Vinny and how he defied all odds is fascinating, I mean the guy actually had metals screwed in to his head and shoulders, the damage would make even people with faith be skeptical of Vinny's recovery. So the fact that he ended up boxing again was nothing short of a miracle. But the film unfortunately is too textbook, there's nothing authentic about writer/director Ben Younger's approach, even the way it presents some of the characters' personal demons, they come across like some kind of caricatures. Which is a shame because I commend Younger for taking a risk on the guy who usually plays the funny friend ("Footloose," "Divergent") and was part of that horrible "Fantastic Four" reboot, Miles Teller. I think gambling on Teller was the right move on Younger, Teller in my opinion does his job, maybe not to the extent that De Niro did his in "Raging Bull," but Teller provides a much needed intensity. The kid's got talent. I can't say the same for the rest of the actors around him that are too busy trying to look and talk and walk like they're local Providence. BLEED FOR THIS is what happens when a script plays it too much by the book and plays it safe, what you get is a film that doesn't move you; a film that lacks imagination and excitement.

-- Rama's Screen --

Born in 1962, professional boxer Vinny Pazienza began his career as a fighter with a bout in 1983. He won his first title in 1987 when he defeated Greg Haugen to become the world lightweight champion. Haugen would reclaim the title in their first rematch, but Pazienza would ultimately triumph in 1990. In 1991, after his fight with Gilbert Dele for the junior middleweight championship, Pazienza was in a near fatal car crash that broke his neck and left doctors doubting if Vinny would ever even walk again. With a screwed in halo brace holding his neck in place, Pazienza was confined to a hospital bed for 3 months. Against doctors' orders and without them aware, Vinny snuck into his basement at home, halo brace and all, to regain his strength for a fight he knew he'd someday get. It was just over a year after the accident that Pazienza was back in the ring for the next unbelievable stage of his career that finally ended in 2004 after 50 wins in the ring.

Bleed For This stars Miles Teller as boxer Vinny Pazienza and is not exactly what you would call a who's who cast of all-stars. Teller has been an up-and-coming rising star that many would argue shone brightest in 2014's Ocscar nominated film Whiplash in which he plays a talented jazz drummer. While Teller himself was not nominated for his role, many recognized his work calling it a breakthrough performance. Teller stars in Bleed For This with Christine Evangelista, Ciaran Hinds, Katey Sagal and Aaron Eckhart who plays Pazienza's trainer Kevin Rooney. However, a movie boasting a slew of Hollywood's A-listers doesn't guarantee a blockbuster, just like the lack thereof doesn't mean anything either.

Vinny is a charismatic, entertaining, playboy, work-hard, party-hard showboating champion boxer in Vinny Pazienza. Make no mistake, he is extremely gifted at what he does and trains hard to be that way, but his antics, gambling and extracurricular activities are fully reaped as rewards for his efforts. And then the accident happens. While his doctor tells him, he may never walk again and his friends and family try to convince him that there's more to life than boxing, Vinny is more determined than ever to get back in the ring and fight again. Bleed For This is based on the true life of Vinny Pazienza and, like the most recent fact-based films I've reviewed, I've chosen to do no research ahead of time as this is not a documentary, this is a Hollywood film. And, I'm a sucker for the underdog movies. Rocky was an underdog in every one of his fights. Southpaw, Eddie the Eagle, Rudy, Invincible, and John Cusack romantic comedy, I'm always a fan of the underestimated, mocked, counted out, never had a chance underdog rising to the challenge. So, I gave Bleed For This a 4.0 Star prediction. After seeing it though, I have to change my mind.

Vinny's life story is definitely worth telling, but Bleed For This was not well-executed. The one word I can describe for most of the film is annoying. The sound effects, or lack thereof at times, didn't heighten or compliment what was going on, though sounds and silence have been masterfully utilized in other such films. The mood and pacing of the music selection didn't match the scenes they scored. There were times that actual footage of the real Vinny were used making it obvious that actor Miles Teller wasn't Vinny. Some of the dialogue seemed rehearsed and scripted (a la Rocky or Million Dollar Baby or Southpaw) while some seemed poorly improvised (a la The Fighter, though not done nearly as well). And the inconsistency of shifting between hand-held shaky camera shots and a steady one made no sense and, again, grew annoying. The saving graces of this movie were the performances of Teller and Eckhart, both of whom I can see being nominated for their roles. But it wasn't enough to redeem Bleed For This and I'm dropping my rating to 2.5 stars, barely worth paying full price in the theatre, but a decent rental that will not find a permanent home in my collection.

marksmoviemind.blogspot.com

After an advanced screening of the movie last night, and hope I can save you a wasted trip to the multiplex...

There are two types of Boxing movies...ones that compare to Raging Bull, and ones like this. It is a contrived tale of a boxer who triumphs over adversity in a plug and play, cookie-cutter way that feels like you have seen it a thousand times before. There are the manufactured triumphant moments, programmed "Insert humor here" chuckles, and the "shocking" (but not really)events. At no time are you transported into caring, as the great cast are forced into shallow stereotypes with no depth or dimension. Miles Teller does a serviceable job in this poorly thought out role, but looks the same no matter what weight class he is fighting in, Aaron Eckhart is positively repulsive looking as an overweight drunk has-been(how original!) with a distracting haircut meant to look like he is balding. He is given no real role to showcase his talents, and the alcoholic angle just seems ridiculous and unreal. Ted Levine as a creepy boxing promoter is just a wasted rehash of his creepiness from Silence of the Lambs, and fits into yet another of the movie's contrivances.

The group of actors are wasted on stale fare,the Director should be held to account for making a cut and paste generic melodrama, and the cinematography at no time brings the fights to life. There is no development to make you really like or care about the characters, there are no surprises in the whole movie, the emotion and the laughs are contrived (and the car crash was dumb... Vinny is in the car, which is supposed to be a new Camaro, but has old faded paint, and has a bloody head and everybody in the scene is shocked, but he looks much better then he did after he had won a fight...silly) and the script never lets anything seem genuine.

The movies flaws outweigh its good points 10 to 1, and the first half of the movie could have been left on the cutting room floor with no ill-effect. In fact, it seemed like a four hour movie. Sadly, Bleed For This should slowly bleed to death through faint praise, and with good editing, should have ended up as nothing more than its trailer...

After some big hits and more than a few misses, the boxing film has been a long time staple of our multiplexes and a sub-genre of sporting film that has provided us with some of cinema's all-time great feel good or dramatic experiences.

For each new boxing film that comes out, they now need to work harder and their punches need to land a bigger impact than the one before them and sadly Bleed for This doesn't manage to climb above its genre tropes to become anything more than a tolerable boxing drama that's void of the emotion that makes similar films like Rocky, Raging Bull and Creed work on a whole different level.

Telling the true life story of famous 1980's American boxer Vinny Pazienza, Boiler Room director Ben Younger netted himself quiet the double bill of rising star Miles Teller to play the determined and feisty Pazienza and an overweight and balding method partaking Aaron Eckhart as Pazienza's friend and trainer Kevin Rooney but Younger and the well-regarded duo fail to connect us emotionally to Pazienza's fight to overcome an horrific car crash injury to box once more.

Both performers are solid in their roles, even if they feel more like imitations rather than full-fledged flesh and blood reincarnations but we're never allowed deep into what makes these two different figures tick and despite the trial over adversity nature of what's often occurring within Bleed for This, at the end of the day without the emotionally investment it's too easy to not care.

The film as it stands also marks another disappointing experience from Teller in particular, who it could be argued goes a little to "awards baiting" here in his turn as Pazienza There's nothing majorly wrong with his performance but after Teller's early breakouts in films like Whiplash and The Spectacular Now, the failure as a whole of Bleed for This alongside recent Teller events like Fantastic Four, Get a Job and the Divergent series mark a point in the young actors career when he is all of a sudden crying out for a decent hit and an individual role that once more utilises his undeniable talent.

Final Say –

There's nothing in Bleed for This that makes it a must-see. For the most die-hard of boxing fans and those that consider themselves Pazienza fans Younger's film may be worthy of your time but for the rest of us, we've seen this type of boxing tale before countless times and with nothing new on the table presented here, it makes Bleed for This an instantly forgettable and rather unnecessary experience.

2 screws out of 5

Bleed for This (2016) This is a biographical sports film based on the life of former world champion boxer Vinny Pazienza. The film stars Miles Teller, with Aaron Eckhart, Katey Sagal, and Ted Levine in supporting roles. It received generally positive reviews but was a box office disappointment. It received little to no award recognition. It's not that it's a bad film. The problem is it's a boxing film about a man's comeback and redemption. It means it will be immediately compared to Rocky. This is a disadvantage to these types of films and requires them to step up their game. This film failed in some aspects, but did well in others. I wanted some more background in the beginning and some parts of the film could have been tightened up to allow for this. It seems either the editing or writing was flawed. I just wanted more of some parts and far less of others.

2016 may just be the year of the dueling mediocre boxing bios. Earlier this year Hands of Stone (2016), the Roberto Duran story, slumped in and out of the box office like a welter weight's sparring partner. Now it seems Bleed for This, a biography of Vinny Pazienza is about to do the same.

To be fair, this story does have a tasty little twist. In the weeks after bouncing back from a losing streak, Providence's local champion Vinny Pazienza (Teller) becomes a victim of a car accident that nearly ruins his career. The accident leaves his neck broken and spine nearly severed, requiring him to wear a steel halo for six months. Nearly everyone including his family, managers and coach tell him he's done for. Yet Vinny feels with the right combination of determination, grit and moral support, he can have another chance in the ring.

For all the positive messages that can be gleamed from this film, the failures of Bleed for This is encrusted right there in its DNA. The film starts by straining to make its hero likable going so far as to downplay or ignore any possible faults. He doesn't drink, doesn't lose his temper, doesn't buckle under pressure, never gives up and only sees the best in people. Thirty minutes into the movie the only flaw Vinny seems to have is he stays up past his bedtime and splits his tens in blackjack.

The problem with a character so determined is there's absolutely no risk. The character arc (if you can say there is one) is calcified; the audiences never surprised nor worried for our beleaguered hero. The unthinkable happens and Vinny's prescription isn't anything new just a concentrated dose of the exact same stick-to-itiveness that made him great in the first place.

Miles Teller for all his charisma can't help but exude smugness as our demigod protagonist. "The scariest thing about giving up is it's easy," he says, with the authority of a bumper sticker. Indeed, nearly everything he says apes your average Tony Robbins symposium. Yet none of it is for his family, his friends or his coach Kevin (Eckhart) who is in sore need of a "coming to God" moment. Nope, it's all for him to keep himself motivated and doing what he claims is easy.

For his work, Eckhart is completely unrecognizable in this film. Gone is the Grecian bod of your girlfriend's hot dad – replaced instead with a receding hairline, a beer belly and a thick New England accent. Without really trying to Eckhart vastly improves nearly every scene he's in and once he's introduced, every time he's not on screen there's an Eckhart shaped hole in the firmament. Call this performance a dark horse contender for Best Supporting Actor, which could've gathered momentum if all of Kevin's redemption scenes weren't so obviously left on the cutting room floor.

As it stands, Bleed for This is an effective motivational poster but not a very good movie. There's little to root for and little tension other than the climactic bout between Pazianza and Duran. Yet even then, the film leans a bit too much on tired boxing film clichés to be memorable and doesn't have the dimensionality of Hands of Stone to keep the audience riveted.

Vinny "Pazmanian Devil" Pazienza is a troublesome character to frame as a hero. He's been through some disconcerting things in his private life, such as assault and allegations of domestic abuse. "Bleed for This" portrays this aspect of Vinny's life as a fun, good ol' boy routine of fun romps to the strip club and passive gambling, with his beautiful girlfriend in tow. When she gives up on him halfway through the film, it's not because of his abusive behavior - but rather, because she doesn't love him enough to deal with his neck brace device and the fact that it's restricting their love life. The movie effectively portrays her as the bad person.

It is Hollywood, so of course there will be historical inaccuracies. But "Bleed for This" desperately wants to be the next "Raging Bull," yet it doesn't have the conviction or the guts to show the demons of Paz the way the latter film did for Jake LaMotta. You can't try to turn a man of questionable moral fiber into Rocky Balboa and then also try to posit your film as a hard-hitting true story when omitting important facts.

Miles Teller has received waves of bad press in the last couple years. He was great in "Whiplash," but it seemed a bit of an in the right place at the right time casting decision. In most of his other films he has been smug and detached to a disadvantage. Ostensibly, this should work in "Bleed for This," highlighting Paz's smarmy charm, but Teller just doesn't have the acting or the physical chops to really drive the performance home. The movie doesn't help this by frequently showing footage of the real Paz (e.g. at a late night TV show appearance), who was short, stocky, and menacing in stature. Teller, with his peach fuzz mustache and lanky build, never really comes across as doing anything more than posturing. Even for the film's physical transformation scenes, he's lacking - there's a before-and-after drawn during Paz's rehabilitation, not to mention a scene that highlights the fact that he has jumped up two entire weight classes... and yet Teller, often with his shirt off, consistently looks exactly the same, and never looks any more or less out of shape or any larger or smaller.

Aaron Eckhart, shaving his head back and growing a paunch, is OK but not given much more to work with than the tired cliché of the boxing trainer. You know the character. Forest Whitaker just played him in Southpaw a couple years ago. Eckhart, like everyone else involved in the film, seems convinced that he's in an awards-worthy role, but frankly the writing is never up to par, which makes his performance seem a little overzealous, like he's trying a little too hard to solidify his Oscar chances.

The best aspect of the film is its direction, by Ben Younger. The problem is that the script lets him down - after an interesting first 45 minutes which takes its time setting up the characters, the pivotal car accident happens... and the movie kind of blows past Paz's recovery. One minute doctors are telling him he might never even walk again, then he begins training...and suddenly he's back in the boxing ring again. One gets the impression that there was probably a lot of content in the middle portion of the film that was left on the cutting room floor, possibly in an effort by the studio to bring a 2.5 hour film down to just under 2 hours. It feels rushed and sloppy.

Overall this is a decent, sporadically interesting one-time viewing, but some of that interest derives from the miscalculation by so many involved (both behind the camera and in front of it). From the miscast lead role to the clunky screenplay to the questionable decision to turn Vinny into a hero figure, the movie has too much working against it to even consider itself in the same league as the great boxing movies it so desperately wants to emulate.

Movie Fans who are also fans of boxing movies know the formula well: There's a young fighter who many people don't believe in. He works hard and finally gets his chance to prove himself. He suffers a defeat, reevaluates, regroups, gets back in the ring and is victorious, even if that victory is simply a moral one. We love these movies because that story arc is familiar and relatable to anyone who has ever struggled to reach a big goal. And we Movie Fans can't seem to get enough of these underdog / comeback stories – including those boxing movies – even if they have become almost too familiar. But then, just when we think we've seen it all before, along comes the biopic "Bleed for This" (R, 1:57).

Miles Teller stars as Vinny Pazienza (who later changed his legal name to Vinny Paz), the Rhode Island fighter who became the IBF World Lightweight Champion in 1987. Paz (as most people call him) keeps winning fights, but he's having more and more trouble making weight in his weight class and his pre-fight regimen leaves him dangerously dehydrated. When his manager, Lou Duva (Ted Levine) suggests that Paz retire, he refuses. Lou then sends him a new trainer, Kevin Rooney (Aaron Eckhart), an alcoholic has-been who once trained and then was fired by Mike Tyson. Paz and Kevin decide on the extreme change of bumping Paz up two weight classes. Angelo (Ciarán Hinds), Vinny's father and cornerman, objects, but Paz comes out better than ever and wins another title – fighting as a Light Middleweight.

Then, tragedy strikes. Paz is riding in a car with his sister's fiancé when the two men get in a head-on collision with another car, breaking Paz' neck. The doctor tells Paz that he may not walk again. Paz insists that he's going to walk again – and fight again. His family and friends remain supportive, but everyone around Paz is sure that his boxing career is over. Paz, however, remains determined. Rather than allowing his doctor to fuse two vertebrae in his neck, Paz chooses to wear a metal halo to stabilize his neck as he heals. But long before the halo is scheduled to come off, Paz surreptitiously starts lifting weights in his basement. Paz soon lets Kevin in on his secret and convinces Kevin to start training him again in private, setting the stage for what many have called the greatest comeback in sports history.

"Bleed for This" is a great story that is well-written and well-directed (in both cases, by Ben Younger) and extraordinarily well-acted, but will leave some Movie Fans more conflicted than inspired. While rooting for Paz' comeback, we can't help but be distracted by the foolhardiness of the chances he took with his recovery, his long-term mobility and his life, even as he had so many people around him who loved him and would have been devastated if his stubbornness had cost him future quality of life, or, possibly life itself. Still, most people can respect Paz' relentless pursuit of what he considered a worthy goal – and we can all relate when he answers an accusation from his trainer that he doesn't know how to give up by saying, "I know exactly how to give up. You know what scares me Kev? Is that it's easy." Questions about priorities aside, the main reason to watch this movie may be the acting. Teller brings his trademark all-in physical and emotional commitment to his role. As for the rest of the cast, except for some members of Vinny's family, who are more annoying than engaging, several of the film's supporting players are award-worthy, including Eckhart, Hinds, Levine and a nearly unrecognizable Katey Segal (Vinny's mother), all of whom disappear into their roles, both physically (helped by some great hairstyling and make-up) and emotionally (giving terrific, lived-in performances). Be warned, however, that the pervasive adult language and frequent female nudity (not to mention the obvious violence) takes this one far away from "family movie" territory. All things considered, on our movie judging scorecards, this remarkable story, supplemented by fantastic individual performances, result in a split decision coming down in favor of… seeing "Bleed for This". "B+"

This movie was inspiring and pushes the boundaries of self help and how to accomplish what you want out of life. The movie is set in Providence Rhode Island in the 1980/90's when Vinny fought. Both for his titles and for his life and career. This was a movie I would see again. To me it was reminiscent of Rocky training and the fight song that was used for many years after to inspire people. Perhaps that was what Vinny used to inspire him to succeed even after tragedy struck the young boxer. Although I Really enjoyed the movie and the plot line, I would most likely have named this movie something different... something that promotes the same inspiration as the movie.

The inspirational story of World Champion Boxer Vinny Pazienza who, after a near fatal car crash which left him not knowing if he'd ever walk again, made one of sport's most incredible comebacks. That's the story and it's executed in such a great way, showing that it's well thought out and the filmmakers behind it knew how to tell the story visually and in the writing in the perfect way. Ben Younger truly did an incredible job at directing and doing the screenplay for the movie, he made a great movie and a boxing movie that isn't filled with clichés.

The ensemble cast was what gave me the interest to watch it, with names like: Aaron Eckhart, Katey Sagal, Ciarán Hinds and of course Miles Teller that plays Vinny, the main character. It was one of his best and believable performances out of his filmography, behind Thank You for Your Service which was just perfect. But this is another kind of performance as he's portraying a real person and I do believe he did an excellent job at giving Vinny justice.

One of the most extraordinary comebacks in boxing sees Vinny "The Pazmanian Devil" Pazienza become world champion at two different weights, survive a near-fatal car accident, and train for the chance to fight again albeit against the wishes of medical experts and his family and friends. This true-to-life story avoids formula in this sub-genre and is crafted with a healthy dose of honesty and characterised by an absorbing theme of redemption. The boxing fights in the story don't actually follow how things really happened in reality so there is some poetic licence but filmically the story works well. It's full of heart and at times cringing stuff.

Miles Teller as the whirlwind boxer Vinny Pazienza was amazing. I didn't know anything about Pazienza before this fight and to be honest I was so glad I didn't. It allowed this film to be completely original for me. I know that the story is a "true story" given the fact that there are a few "cinematic enhancements", but Teller did an amazing job of portraying the character through the whole range of emotions.

For me, this movie largest win wasn't in the ring, but in the audio. The audio design was IMPECCABLE in my opinion. I really geek out in moments of movies where you can FEEL what's happening through the sound and this movie had that in multiple moments. Truly amazing.

The film as a whole was a fun ride through the '80s with a dynamic character who ultimately wins both in the ring and in your heart.

This is a biopic of boxer Vinny Pazienza. He's an obsessed gambler. His boxing is faltering after three consecutive losses. Even his manager advises him to quit in a TV interview. As he makes his comeback, he gets into a car accident on his way to a casino. He is endangered of never walking again. Despite the dangers, he secretly trains with his head halo brace. At first, no one is willing to fight him due to his injury but with some media attention, he gets a title fight with champion Roberto Durán.

This is sorta like Rocky without the romance. My only drawback is that I don't love Vinny. It's not that he's mean-spirited or villainous in any way. It's more like he's self-destructive and not in a loveable way. Maybe they could downplay his gambling instead of highlighting it. He's bull-headed which could work during his halo section but it's already used-up by his gambling. Some parts work better than others. The biopic aspects work even if I don't like the content sometimes. There is a stereotypical reality to the characters and Vinny has my grudging respect.

Miles Teller is good and the story interesting. We don't get much below the surface.