Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

kellehc Danny Flynn, a former IRA volunteer, is released from prison after 14 years to quietly rebuild his life in his rundown corner of Belfast.The setting of the film is so dark and impoverished someone with a knowledge of Ireland can only assume it was shot in Dublin's inner city as there are no districts of Ireland outside the capital that resemble that level of urban poverty. This is a contributing factor to the feeling of detachment the film gives off and only really the scene in East Belfast between Danny and Maggie give us a local feel, this coupled with the warmth of the dialogue, is one of the few tines the viewer can invest in the story.Films set in Belfast require on site production to be of value as the local area is as much a character in films based on the 'troubles' as the actors themselves. If the director was seeking to give us a feel of Irish urban poverty at its very worst why didn't he just go the whole hog and film the picture in the Moyross area of Limerick City, as it is about as relevant to a Belfast based picture as Dublin's north inner city.

richard-1967 As he has proved over and over, Daniel Day Lewis can carry a movie by his presence, without saying a word. The opening of The Boxer is his best example. Without speaking, DDL gets out of prison and begins to carve out a new life. With nothing other than the physical surroundings and DDL's facial expressions to carry us, this film sucks us in from the beginning.I bought into the story of this young man of integrity. If you don't, I guess you rate the movie poorly. But I found this story more compelling than Sins of the Father, and thus more worthy.I'd watch this again, which is high praise indeed from me.

lastliberal I cannot imagine a better example of religion's failure than the war in Northern Ireland. The land that we celebrate in March as a place of happiness is one where Catholics and Protestants bathed the ground with the blood of their young.Danny (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a former IRA member who has spent the last 14 years in prison. he just wants to get on with his life and forget the war, but it is still going on and cannot be ignored. He also has unresolved personal issues with Maggie (Emily Watson) to address. They have to sneak around as she is a symbol - a wife with a husband in prison for his activities.Outstanding performances by Daniel Day-Lewis (My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown , There Will Be Blood, Gangs of New York) and Emily Watson (Hilary and Jackie, Breaking the Waves, Punch-Drunk Love), and Brian Cox (Zodiac, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy) as the man who was trying to establish a peace.As you would expect of a film set in the war, there is no comedy or romance, just a dark, dirty, grim tale of life as it really is, not what we wish it to be. A brilliant cast giving us a needed reminder of the cost of war.

Lee Eisenberg After accomplishing masterpieces with "My Left Foot" and "In the Name of the Father", Jim Sheridan totally went in the wrong direction with "The Boxer". I don't think that the issue should be whether one views the IRA positively or negatively (this movie treats them pretty mercilessly). The issue is that, contrary to what this movie portrays, the Irish and English can't agree on things through boxing matches. And they really could have done without all the love stuff.In conclusion, Sheridan, Daniel Day-Lewis and Emily Watson have all done much better than this. I don't know why they felt that they had to do this movie.