TORONTO – In David Michôd’s latest film, “Christy,” Sydney Sweeney steps into the role of history-making boxer Christy Salters and brings her story of survival to audiences who may not know her or only remember her for her high-octane fights and cutthroat trash talk as the pink-clad prizefighter Christy Martin. Sweeney, who also shares a producer credit on the film, holds nothing back as she retraces Salters’ steps from scrapping in amateur fights for a few hundred dollars to fighting in Las Vegas for thousands of viewers.
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Beginning from the start of her career in 1989, the movie follows Christy (Sweeney) as she discovers her passion for the sweet science, bucking her parents’ expectations and pursuing a career in boxing, which at the time, had few—if any—women in the ring. A promoter introduces her to a sexist, homophobic coach named Jim Martin (Ben Foster), and while he reluctantly takes her on, he sees Christy’s potential and hitches his wagon to her rising star, marrying her within a few years to control her career and hide that Christy is a lesbian. It takes years for her to make it to the big leagues, but make it she does and onto Don King’s (Chad L. Coleman) well-paid pay-per-view roster. But even in the middle of lucrative contracts and glitzy press conferences, Jim looms large over her corner, pushing Christy to do things she didn’t want to do and steal her money. Once her career cools and his abuse ramps up to a near-deadly force, Christy must finally fight for herself.
At first, Sweeney plays Christy with a sense of innocence and a mean left hook. She looks almost overwhelmed by every new stage of her early career, surprised by her own strength when knocking out an opponent. Once the newness wears off and Jim has lied to her for so many years, her face loses the cocky attitude and falls flat with a jaded look in her eyes and a sense of permanent disappointment. She’s no longer the spunky start-up, but the beaten-down housewife made to conform to her husband’s whims. In the ring, she struggles to keep up the tough bravado; eventually, time and abuse take their toll. Sweeney spends much of the movie covered in sweat between training and fight scenes, and commits to swinging as wildly and heavily as she can.
To enhance the intensity of the film’s boxing matches, Michôd and cinematographer Germain McMicking (“Together”) move their camera into the ring alongside Sweeney and alternate editing between over-the-shoulder shots with close-ups to let her fill in the intensity of each round. Michôd’s screenplay, co-written with Mirrah Foulkes, is unafraid of exploring the many difficulties Christy faced in life, like how she was shamed for being interested in women and later taunted her opponents by calling them homophobic slurs, almost like a defensive move against accusations about her sexuality. While it’s admirable the film is unafraid to show the domestic violence she endured in her marriage to Jim, certain scenes seemed too focused on the lurid nature of the abuse than its horror, like the moment she’s sexually humiliated by Jim as he’s filming her, the scene goes on for an uncomfortable amount of time and is shown chiefly from Jim’s point-of-view. In the climactic confrontation between Christy and Jim, he gravely injures her leg, and the shock of that gore distracts from Sweeney’s intense performance as Christy fights for her life every time it moves onto the screen.
While Sweeney’s performance is rich and varied, Foster’s presence is downright chilling as Christy’s coach turned manager. Jim is nothing short of a bully, using both his words and fists to put his partner down. Much of his manipulation is soft-spoken threats sometimes delivered with teary eyes, emotionally coercing Christy to agree with him or do what he says. The rest of the cast is well-stacked with talented performers, including Katy O’Brian, who broke out with “Love Lies Bleeding” last year; Merritt Wever who plays Christy’s homophobic mother; Ethan Embry as her strong but silent coal mining father; Bryan Hibbard, Gilbert Cruz and Tony Cavalero (“Righteous Gemstones”) play the other trainers in Christy’s corner. Not to mention Chad L. Coleman, who steals about every scene he’s in as Don King.
“Christy” is Sydney Sweeney’s “Raging Bull,” a demanding role that covers many years and challenges of a real person’s life. While not all of Michôd’s punches land, his star puts up a hell of a fight to show the complexity of Christy’s story, including the painful topics of domestic violence and homophobia. The film, which premiered in Toronto to a standing ovation when the real Salters took the stage with her pet dog Champ, played well with the rapt audience as they cheered on Christy’s wins and rooted for Jim’s eventual comeuppance. Despite some creative missteps, there’s still some fight left in “Christy” and Sweeney to make it to the next round. [B-]
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