In this biopic, a documentary crew follows the boxer Willie Pep during his 1960s comeback.
In “The Featherweight,” James Madio nimbly portrays Willie Pep, the boxing champion from Connecticut whom The Ring magazine once nicknamed the Hartford Tornado.
The movie, directed by Robert Kolodny, opens on the acclaimed pugilist in 1964, two decades after he started his career and five years after he first retired. At 42, Pep has been selling autographed photos and other memorabilia, a requirement and curse of a fading fame. He often appears with his nemesis, Sandy Saddler (Lawrence Gilliard Jr.), a Black featherweight champ who is along for the downward slide.
Pep is angling for a comeback, which is the reason a documentary film crew is trailing him. “The Featherweight” is the fruit of their fly-on-the-wall ubiquity.
In Hartford, Pep lives with his much younger wife, Linda (Ruby Wolf), an aspiring actress, and his mother (Imma Aiello), who doesn’t much like Linda. His grown son, Billy Jr. (Keir Gilchrist), is openly antagonistic. Talk about bobbing and weaving.
Pep often engages the crew with a sweet and cocky slyness, which befits a boxer who would amass almost 230 wins during his career. That doesn’t mean he’s happy being filmed bullying one of Linda’s fellow actors or being battered at his old gym once he returns to his former trainer, Bill Gore (Stephen Lang).
Kolodny handles his movie-as-documentary conceit with subtle flair and finesse. For a subgenre as crowded with movies as boxing has weight classes, “The Featherweight” isn’t a knockout. But it does land more than a glancing blow.
The Featherweight
Not rated. In English, with some Italian in subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 39 minutes. In theaters.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
