THE BOXER

Danny Flynn: Daniel Day-Lewis Maggie: Emily Watson Joe Hamill: Brian Cox Ike Weir: Ken Stott Harry: Gerard McSorley Directed by Jim Sheridan. Written by Jim Sheridan and Terry George. Running time: 105 minutes. Rated R (for language and some violence).

You cannot hold the process to ransom any longer, so end the violence, and end it now.
-British Man

What about the IRA?
-Irish Man #1

They haven't gone away you know.
-Irish Man #2

The struggle for peace between the IRA (Irish Republican Army) and the British has gone on for so long, that when peace does come, what will come of it?* One can't help but wonder the response of the people, who have lived in Northern Ireland throughout the whole process. What will their reaction be? Will they trust the British or will they revert back to their old ways and continue their terrorist attacks? The hardest task may not be for peace itself, but for everyone to trust each other. For decades, each side has been told to distrust the other that when they do start to talk about peace, they can't oblige because of their past feelings.

Jim Sheridan's The Boxer looks into that mood and pressure of these people ,who have been in the middle of this conflict through all these years. The film takes place in the dreary and depressed sections of Belfast. We see Danny Flynn (Daniel Day-Lewis, who also starred in Sheridan's My Left Foot and In the Name of the Father) walk out of the prison that has kept him captive for 14 years. At 18, he was imprisoned for terrorist actions and refusing to name his fellow IRA conspirators. The situation has since changed in Belfast when Danny last saw. Resolution and peace may actually be achieved, as Joe Hamill (Brian Cox), a high-ranking official in the IRA, is trying to negotiate a truce with the British and end the terrible bloodshed.

Now in a Hollywood movie, Danny would be the hero and take it upon himself to stop this whole war, but Sheridan doesn't fall into that trap. Danny is a quiet and isolated man (prison will do that to a man), who just wants to come back home and restart his once promising boxing career. His stand of forgetting the past, is a model for the other residents of Belfast.

Unfortunately, his choice to come back to Belfast doesn't appease the locals, but it does appease Maggie (Emily Watson), who is Hamill's daughter. Maggie and Danny were once lovers, before he went to prison, but Maggie has moved on and has married another person associated with the IRA, who is now in prison also. As she waits for her husband to come home, she takes care of their son. When Danny comes back, their old passion reaches a roadblock, as the IRA threatens death for any man having an affair with a prisoner's wife. Their relationship is so troublesome to Belfast that the two even crossed the border to British soil to get away from suspicious eyes. The situation gets worse when their relationship is eyed like a hawk by Harry (Gerard McSorley), one of the head militants in the IRA faction of Belfast. Harry is a hothead, who hates Hamill and the decisions he makes, and fears Danny's presence.

In order to revive Danny's boxing career, he finds his old boxing manager, an alcoholic named Ike (Ken Stott). The two reopen a local gymnasium for young boxers of all faiths in one of the community centers. The gym becomes a symbol of the new peace that everyone wants and also a place to heal old wounds and move ahead. It becomes a haven for the local kids, who spend their time boxing, instead of being involved with the IRA, unlike Danny's teenage years. Meanwhile, Danny uses the gym for his personal training, as he gets ready for a series of bouts.

Apart from Danny and Maggie, the film's other key figure is Joe Hamill. A veteran of the organization, he is a man who has killed and ordered kills in his time, but has the character and bravery to end the conflict and lead his organization toward peace. His tired face has shown the turmoil that his people have gone through and how desperately he wants to stop it. Meanwhile Harry, who lost a child to the British, will accept no compromise and rather see all of them dead, before he allowed any notion of peace to enter in his mind. Joe fears that if Danny and Maggie act on their love for each other, they may destroy the whole delicate balance and his seat on the IRA. He is tormented throughout the film, as he is trying to do what is best for his country, but his family also.

The film shows how smart Maggie and Danny are. We know that they are in love with each other, but their needs and lust for each other does not cloud their judgment. They will not act upon that lust because of the consequences they will have to face, which may include their lives. They decide to renew their friendship, instead of their love. Their new relationship is content for both of them.

The film's only weakness is the boxing material. The scenes are lackluster and unnecessary. The three fights bring no point to the film and diverts our attention to the other events that are more important than inside of the ring.

During the film, we see snippets of the military presence on the borders of Belfast. Helicopters roaming the streets always on the hunt for trouble. The constant sound of sirens in the night is not uncommon in Belfast. It looks like hell on earth and Sheridan portrays it well. Grade: B

*On August 31, 1994 the Irish Republican Army signed a historic declaration that proclaimed their cessation of their military operations.

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