Tag: Sydney Sweeney

Film Review: “Christy”

Sweeney, Foster deliver knockout performances in affecting boxing biopic

Christy (Sydney Sweeney) contemplates her next move in the ring.

If you’re not a boxing fan, you may not have heard of Christy Martin, a super welterweight champion of women’s professional boxing. Netflix covered her personal and professional life story in its excellent sports documentary series Untold back in 2021’s “Deal with the Devil” episode, and Hollywood obviously found the material worthy of dramatic spin. Hence the release of Christy today, with actress Sydney Sweeney portraying the resilient boxing champ in an absorbing and well-acted biopic.  Continue reading “Film Review: “Christy””

Film Review: “Eden”

A star-studded affair to relish (then forget)

Frederick (Jude Law) and Dore (Vanessa Kirby) scowl at newcomers.

The “Galapagos Affair” is a fascinating and troubling true story. Multiple eyewitness accounts have been published, as well as a documentary and non-fiction books, about the incident. Director Ron Howard, no stranger to the “based on a true story” aspect of filmmaking (Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Frost/Nixon, Thirteen Lives, among others), depicts the “Galapagos Affair” in his new film, Eden, a thriller set among paradise-seeking settlers on the island of Floreana in the 1930s. Eden is a star-studden affair, a sexually-charged collision of characters unfolding in a harsh natural environment, but the crucial “why” behind the proceedings is never explored, resulting in the film’s inability to be anything more than a diverting thriller. Continue reading “Film Review: “Eden””