Review: Jawbone


Johnny Harris stars as a washed-up former youth boxer and not-so reformed boozer looking to get back in the ring for desperate financial reasons. He hooks up with shady but fairly avuncular underground fight promoter Ian McShane to set up an unsanctioned fight. This despite gym owner Ray Winstone and veteran trainer Michael Smiley (profanely) telling him not to involve them in any unsanctioned bullshit. Hell, Winstone didn’t even want to let Harris into his gym in the first place. Meanwhile, Winstone is harbouring a sad secret only gradually revealed.



Star/writer Johnny Harris obviously thought he had pulled a Sly Stallone and written himself to his own “Rocky” with this 2017 hard-nut Brit boxing movie. Directed by debutant Thomas Q. Napper (His legit name. He’s a 2nd Unit guy usually), it might not even be the equal of “Rocky V”. And believe me, “Rocky V” was a total snooze. Harris has a decent hangdog look to him, but it’s tough to care about his desperate, sometimes volatile loser character, let alone a story that leaves no cliché unused. It’s every boxing movie you’ve ever seen, just not nearly as good as most. It’s also incredibly slight in terms of not only depth but running time as well.



Ray Winstone (playing Burgess Meredith in “Rocky III” pretty much), Michael Smiley, and Ian McShane are all good but underused. I stopped caring pretty quickly here, with the boxing ring action rendered lifeless by giving zero depth to the other participant in the big fight. Gee, I wonder who wrote the film? It’s choppy, flimsy, and unsatisfying. There’s just not much here, let alone of much interest. The performances are fine, but our lead protagonist isn’t interesting or likeable enough to invest in, and his opponent is practically a broom. The three most recognisable actors leave the film for too great lengths of time, resulting in a pretty boring film despite some authenticity and tough-nut Brit flavour. It’s just not good enough.



Rating: D+

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