Christy

Sydney Sweeney is boxer Christy Martin in Christy (Distributed by Black Bear)

Christy is a formulaic, run-of-the-mill boxing movie, with shallow characterizations and little narrative momentum. What keeps it afloat is its lead performance and a final act that is more powerful than it really earned. It moves like a cliché sports movie yet, underneath, it is the story of a woman pushed to be someone she isn’t, being smothered by an emotionally/physically abusive husband.

This isn’t a deep character study because the screenplay never takes the time to get inside Christy Salters, despite its bloated 128-minute run time (minus the end credits). When it comes to boxing, it is all brute force, no substance. Those scenes don’t feel like they were filmed by somebody who understands the sport. It is fairly successful at showing a woman so broken down by society that she becomes susceptible to the manipulations of a desperate creep. It only truly focuses on that toward the end, but it does make for a moving conclusion.

Christy Salters was the first female boxing star. A sweet young lady, taught by her mother that her sexual feelings for women were wrong, Christy was never free to be herself. After getting into amateur fighting for fun, she is connected with trainer Jim Martin, who believes he can make her the best female boxer in the world. He does more than that, taking over her life, with him at the center.

Christy is perhaps most interesting as a departure for Sydney Sweeney. It is her big chance to announce that she is a real actor, not just a pretty face. She is close to unrecognizable as the small, scrappy, hard-working title character, but that is not the aspect of her work that is impressive. Anyone can wear makeup. What Sweeney brings here is the inner life of a woman who is not empowered to express it.

Whether it’s her mom’s criticism or Jim’s threatening dominance, Christy is constantly compelled to be something she isn’t. While it pacifies everyone else, she is miserable. The only time she feels any sort of control is in the ring, though even that is in Jim’s shadow. Sweeney isn’t necessarily believable as a boxer. She is, however, very believable as a woman smiling, and swinging, through the trauma of acting like everything is fine when it definitely is not.

I think what it shows is, in the right role, with the right direction, Sydney Sweeney is capable of a performance worthy of an Oscar nomination. I don’t think Christy as a whole is good enough to get her there, through no fault of hers. It is too superficial and too generic, especially considering that it is about a lesbian boxer who suffered from identity issues thanks to severe emotional and physical abuse. That is a story that hasn’t been told before. Director David Michôd, who previously made Animal Kingdom and The Rover, both of which I really enjoyed, somehow could not find a way to make this stand on its own. Instead, making a derivative movie about a relatively unique topic.

Still, Sydney Sweeney is clearly committed to Christy, a project she felt strongly about. It is notable work from her that will probably get more attention, and less credit, than it deserves because of who she is. She is a headline due to her looks and a silly controversy she has refused to be a part of. This is proof she also does her day job quite well, regardless of how good the product around her is.

3 out of 5

Cast:

Sydney Sweeney as Christy Martin

Ben Foster as Jim Martin

Merritt Wever as Joyce Salters

Ethan Embry as Johnny Salters

Jess Gabor as Rosie

Katy O’Brian as Lisa Holewyne

Directed by David Michôd

Screenplay by Mirrah Foulkes and David Michôd