Back in his glory days, Bernard Rozyski, better known as “Bang Bang,” was a beloved prizefighter boxer riding high on his success. These days he’s angry and closed off, living in his grungy house in a blue-collar Detroit neighborhood. When Bang Bang’s estranged daughter unexpectedly drops her troublemaking teenage son off at his doorstep, it gives the bitter old man a chance at personal redemption as he trains the potential-laden kid in the ring. Problems arise when the former champ’s past demons have other plans, forcing Bang Bang to confront everything he’s tried so hard to suppress. 

Anchored by an excellent and complex performance from Tim Blake Nelson, Vincent Grashaw’s Bang Bang takes tried-and-true sports film tropes and revitalizes them with raw honesty, muscular grit and a sharp sense of humor. For all of his flaws and self-loathing, Nelson’s anti-hero of a character makes it impossible for you to want to see him lose, a testament to the film’s underlying power.––Matt Barone

Vincent Grashaw