The Boxer 1997

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: Though we've seen this unquiet terrain before, this new film about boxing, star-crossed lovers and the Irish Republican Army temporarily gives us fresh eyes. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: In the end, as one unconvincing plot twist follows another, The Boxer can't sustain the initial interest it aroused. Read more

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel: If The Boxer doesn't quite score a knockout, that's because of such flaws as the too-sketchy development of the character of Maggie's son, who turns out to be pivotal. But the movie carries the day by aiming its strongest punches straight at the heart. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: Day-Lewis has the ability to make the will to nonviolence look positively volcanic. And Watson, with her 200-watt incandescence, makes longing look radiant. Read more

Susan Stark, Detroit News: Read more

Janet Maslin, New York Times: A tender, wrenching Belfast drama. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: This is acting that stands apart from fashionable styles. Read more

Bob Thomas, Associated Press: In each film he makes, Day-Lewis seems to adopt a new persona. Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: The third collaboration between Daniel Day-Lewis and Irish director Jim Sheridan (after My Left Foot and In The Name Of The Father) is as powerful as the two that precede it. Read more

Lisa Alspector, Chicago Reader: The screenplay of this 1997 feature, written by Sheridan and Terry George, demonizes one man to make some obvious points and allows Day-Lewis and Watson to talk up their characters' 14-year history more than demonstrate it. Read more

Paul Clinton (CNN.com), CNN.com: With Watson and Day-Lewis you can almost feel the heat, and their situation never feels contrived or artificial. Read more

Peter Rainer, Dallas Observer: The Boxer is very observant about the ways in which women are enlisted in the IRA cause. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Sheridan's "Can't we all just get along?" romantic drama doesn't have the angry power of his previous tale of Troubles, In the Name of the Father, but that may be the strength of this maturely measured piece. Read more

David Denby, New York Magazine/Vulture: The movie's acts of violence and betrayal may be familiar, but the filmmakers' obvious contempt for people given over to fanaticism is enormously welcome -- a call for the most elementary kind of sanity. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: To anyone who cares to look beneath the surface details, it will become clear that this is not a political movie at heart, but an examination of far more primal forces. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: What's fascinating is the delicacy of the relationship between Maggie and Danny. Read more

Charles Taylor, Salon.com: It's a solidly crafted film of resolutely adult emotions, and Sheridan must be one of the few consistently political filmmakers who never loses sight of the human focus of his politics. Read more

Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle: Daniel Day-Lewis is such a consummate actor that every film he makes, and every blood- and-sinew performance he delivers, tends to have the stamp of prestige about it. Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The climax is unsettling, and effective. All of Sheridan's Northern Ireland stories have had realistic endings. The Boxer saves one of its best punches for the end. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: The critic dutifully tabulated each blunt plot point, each refried cliche.. And yet, when Danny's nemesis did something monstrously rotten, the critic was so enraged by the dastardly act that he had to stop himself from spitting his candy. Read more

Geoff Andrew, Time Out: While Sheridan (who co-wrote) weighs in with gutsy, gritty direction, shooting the fight scenes with panache and cutting sharply throughout for suspense and pace. Politically, too, it's sensitive and sensible. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: The third collaboration between director Jim Sheridan and actor Daniel Day-Lewis, The Boxer is an involving but rather prosaic report from the Belfast front with a melancholy undertow of romantic yearning. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: Despite its strengths, romantic staying power and a surprise ending, The Boxer has begun to lose the fight as the movie ends. Read more

Stephen Hunter, Washington Post: Sheridan is very good on the ways and means of the IRA. Read more