Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / Jan. 14, 1998, edition 1 / Page 4
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Meredith Herald January 14,1998 Campus Extras Movie Review: The Boxer packs a punch Tory Hoke FealurM Editor As the final installment in director Jim Sheridan’s trilogy about the troubles in Nordiem Ireland, The Boxer puis most of its effort into transporting and mood-setting. The resulting neglect of character develop ment, coupled with tlie absence of the typically chatty writing to which American audiences are accustomed, creates an oddly serene aivl thoughtful environ ment for a story about persecu tion and pugilism. Daniel Day Lewis’ Danny Flynn is the boxer released after fourteen years in prison. Emily Watson's Maggie is the girlfriend he left behind, who responded by marrying his fellow IRA soldier best friend, which, due to the age and appearance of her son Liam, the controlUng influence of her father in the ranks of the IRA, and the lingering lakes tlie cam era serves up of Liam and Danny, looks like a marriage of conve nience. Danny returns to bis bricked up Belfast apartment, knocks down the blockade, and rebuilds tlie boxing ring in the local community center, where Maggie works. Her love has endured, his love has endured, and tlie husband is in jail, yet tliey remain reuKirkably chaste while they decide bow to direct their lives. Sheridan uses an explicit box- ing-fighting/warring-fighting metaphor to explore when it is right versus when it is manly to fight or walk away. His uiiflin- cliing depictions of bombings, riots, firefights and police brutal ity use no slow motion, indicat ing his desire to offer up diese images realistic;illy and let tlte viewer make her own conclusion about tlieir necessity. The cli mactic boxing sequence, howev er, does use slow motion to emphasize tlie viciousness of the sport and Danny’s realization of it. The sequence is gripping, but one may find Danny’s change of heart at so late a date and not before a little improbable. Tlie one character who argues that fighting is necessary is H:irry, tlie IRA honcho who bat tles Maggie’s father’s attempts at peacemaking. Even Harry is sympathetic, his arguments understandable, but Sheridan makes no defenses for his meth ods; Sheridan observes that ter rorism cannot create peace, but does not attempt to make in two hours a black-and-white case of eighty years of conflict. The film effectively transports tJie viewer to Nortliem Irelan and makes her feel as hunted and fearful as its residents. For keep ing her attached to the charac ters, Sheridan’s eye for gripping detail shows up in tlie promi nence of Maggie’s wedding ring when she reluctantly pulls away from Danny’s embrace, the prominence of her father’s Claddagh ring when be reminds her about her obhgations, and the way a camera flash spotlights Danny’s face as he scans the audience of his fight for Maggie. Sheridan leaves so much unsaid—why exactly did Danny go to jail? why doesn’t Maggie ever visit her husband?—that The Boxer feels like a genuine peek into someone else’s life. Tlie njovie's ending stuns, and leaves the viewer with a feeling, but no clear conclusion. Emily Watson and Daniel Day-Lewis star in Universal Studios' The Boxer, a drama set in the war-torn Belfast, north Ireland’s capital. Universm. studios Internet photo FIRST SESSION FREE FOR NEW CLIENTS ■ Air Conditioning & Fans • Private Rooms • AM FNi Cassette Plavere •!.( )WKS r R A TKS AKOLNir • Certified Technicians • Bulbs Replaced Regularly ' Friendly, Professional Staff ■ Plenty of Parking Tan at the BEST SALON in TOWN 233-6799 9 Buck Jones Rd. (Intersection between Western Blvd. & Hillsborough SL) 20% OFF any tanning products^^^ ^Tffftnr STUFP 1^''* CKXPO" MStamiP.^Hay nollie uud wTtK any oihic inapt. 'WW txpir«ts-i6-s8 mVr Buy 1, get 1 S visits lop 30 visits 6cc nn FREE $20.00 5SS.UU $80.00 lUrtiHMaiDnaamlnB fin ^ imfaatoi' S7.I0 233-6799 233-6799 hianiTDn |iei>CBttan«p. May tn tteiiitmnaiiy atup Dflari. tip)rn S-1S-SS Oai coupos|i»P mtoaap. May DittKaHd with any tnef eniPi. bpiPtt S-1S-81 5 visits for $20.00 10 visits for $40.00 233-6799 Oflt coupon (lat^ eustotiiu'. MayMttKautMViany QttlSP olltp*. txpipas 5-1S-SS 30 visits for $80.00 233-6799 Ods conpsii pepmtomti'. May not be utedwltftaay OtAtP OtISPt. txplPH S-tS-SS Rf0LSter to vvtkv Lun-ck forlVJD at caffe Luvia 136. HC1K0ett St. Do You Send Postcards or Do You Receive Them? Lean More about Sending Visit the Study Abroad Table Wednesda)', January 21 Luitoh, Belk Dining Hail Sponsored by the Office of Study Abroad Vick Study Abroad Suite, 124 Joyner EXCELLENT EXTRA INCOME NOW! ENVELOPE STUFFING — S600 - S600 every week Free [Retails: SASE to International Inc. 1375 Coney Island Ave. Brooklyn, New York 11230 I SiGMAN Epsilon If you are INTERESTED IN THE SALES AND MARKETING PROFESSION, Pi SiGMA Epsilon IS FOR you! Come to ENJOY OUR ORIENTATION MEETING ON , Jan. 21st (Wed.) AT 8 ' PM IN Dogwood B (under Belk). If INTERESTED, PLEASE GIVE Meredith a CALLATX7438.
Meredith College Student Newspaper
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Jan. 14, 1998, edition 1
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