By now, boxing movies are such an overplayed genre, it’s tough for any filmmaker to innovate how the sport appears on screen. Sean Ellis‘ “The Cut” finds a way around that problem by focusing on physical and psychological struggles outside the ring, especially the grueling battle to make weight. The film tries several things at once, including a flashback structure than doesn’t fully connect, but its impact ultimately comes down to Orlando Bloom‘s visceral, transformative performance as an unnamed Irish brawler.
Bloom’s protagonist — referred to as “the Boxer” in press notes, and frustratingly, nothing at all in the movie — can be seen engaged in a professional boxing bout exactly once in “The Cut.” During the film’s brief prologue, the accomplished prizefighter seems well on his way to another victory, when something mysterious and unseen distracts…
