NDSU Spectrum: Movie review

In ‘Girlfight,’ life is like a boxing match

By JOHN HANSEN

Oct. 27, 2000

Diana Guzman hates the world. The Latin youth has no ambition and no role models. Her school is terrible and she lives in a small apartment in a poor neighborhood.

Her father is so oppressive he drove his wife to suicide. He never listens to his kids, only demands that they follow the path he knows is best. Diana, your mother worked as a receptionist in a nice office, now why do you throw your life away by fighting in school?

From “Girlfight’s” opening shot of Diana glaring at the camera, it’s evident that the muscular Michelle Rodriguez is perfectly cast as a girl who finds an outlet for her anger through boxing.

The heart of the film comes from Diana’s romance with another aspiring featherweight, Adrian (Santiago Douglas), and from Jaime Tirelli, who steals scenes as Diana’s trainer who progresses from intimidating boxing expert to surrogate father.

Written and directed by Karyn Kusama, “Girlfight” demonstrates some good things about independent films (gritty, character-driven), but it’s low budget is sometimes obvious (fake-looking boxing scenes dressed up with slow motion shots.) Ultimately, the film is boxing as a metaphor for life. Even if Diana wins the final decision, she’ll still get beat up along the way. B