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The Featherweight

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The Featherweight
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Kolodny
Screenplay bySteve Loff
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyAdam Kolodny
Edited byRobert Greene
Music byRetail Space
Production
company
Distributed bymTuckman Media
Release dates
  • September 3, 2023 (2023-09-03) (Venice)
  • September 20, 2024 (2024-09-20) (United States)
Running time
99 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$22,011[1][2]

The Featherweight is a 2023 American biographical sports drama film directed by Robert Kolodny, written by Steve Loff, and starring James Madio as professional boxer Willie Pep.[3] It premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on September 3, 2023.[4]

Plot

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Set in 1964, a direct cinema camera crew follows Willie Pep, retired two-time world featherweight boxing champion. Now living in Hartford, Connecticut with his wife Linda, an aspiring actress half his age, a drug-addled son, his Italian immigrant parents, mounting debts and the feeling of faded glory ... Pep decides to make a return to the ring.[5]

Cast

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Production

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Filming occurred in Hartford, Connecticut in late 2021, utilizing real locations from Willie Pep's life.[10] Kolodny cast both professional actors and locals to heighten the nonfiction aesthetic of the film.[11] Aside from Robert Kolodny, who spent the years as a documentary cinematographer on films like Procession and All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, the team behind the film involved several celebrated filmmakers from the documentary community, including Steve James as executive producer and Robert Greene as editor.

Release

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The Featherweight was released in the United States by mTuckman Media on September 20, 2024.[12] It was the highest grossing film at the Quad Cinema during its opening weekend, where it sold out three evening shows on consecutive nights, causing it to be held over for an additional week.[13]

Reception

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of 12 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.5/10.[14] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 79 out of 100, based on five critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[15]

The film received a five minute standing ovation at its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival.[16] It received praise by Indiewire, who compared the cinéma vérité to John Cassavetes[17] and Dana Thomas calling it a "mash-up Mean Streets and Raging Bull " in The Style Files.[18]

It went on to be selected as the closing film of the 54th International Film Festival of India[19] and the showcase screening of the Museum of the Moving Image's First Look Festival. Robert Kolodny was awarded the prize for best director at both the Provincetown International Film Festival[20] and the RiverRun International Film Festival.[21]

The New Yorker's Richard Brody said of The Featherweight "Kolodny’s film is a touching, disquieting, relentlessly fascinating view of a troubled soul and of the world of trouble he belongs to. It’s an instant classic of a boxing movie, with its closeup view of the inseparable agonies and passions of a sport that’s shadowed with death. It’s an absorbing journalistic glance behind the scenes at a once-famed historical figure. But, above all, it’s a work of critical cinematic history, of self-criticism regarding the practice of nonfiction film—and, as such, it’s a vital reflection on the present day."[22]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The Featherweight". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
  2. ^ "The Featherweight". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved October 11, 2024.Edit this at Wikidata
  3. ^ Frater, Patrick (October 14, 2021). "Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way and Singapore's Golden Ratio Producing 'Pep' Boxing Biopic". Variety. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  4. ^ "Biennale Cinema 2023 | The Featherweight". La Biennale di Venezia. July 13, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  5. ^ Saito, Stephen (September 3, 2023). "Robert Kolodny's "The Featherweight" - Venice 2023 Film Review". The Moveable Fest. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  6. ^ Day, Cassandra (November 7, 2021). "Leonardo DiCaprio brings the story of Willie Pep, the boxing great from Middletown, to life". The Middletown Press. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d Arnott, Christopher (October 26, 2021). "Long-delayed movie about Connecticut boxing legend Willie Pep set to begin shooting in Hartford". Hartford Courant. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  8. ^ Grobar, Matt (September 29, 2021). "Willie Pep Boxing Biopic Starring James Madio, Keir Gilchrist & Ron Livingston Set To Enter The Ring". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  9. ^ a b Arnott, Christopher (November 9, 2021). "'Pep' movie, about Connecticut boxing icon Willie Pep, has started filming at St. Francis, West Hartford home, Hartford Club". Hartford Courant. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  10. ^ Altman, Jim (November 17, 2021). "A touch of Hollywood in downtown Hartford; Camera rolls on Willie Pep film". WTIC-TV. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  11. ^ "Movie About Famed Connecticut Boxer Willie Pep Filming in Hartford". WVIT. November 8, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  12. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 8, 2024). "'The Featherweight': Willie Pep Boxing Movie From Appian Way Unveils Trailer, Sets Fall Release". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
  13. ^ "The Featherweight".
  14. ^ "The Featherweight". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  15. ^ "The Featherweight". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  16. ^ Gyarkye, Lovia (September 3, 2023). "'The Featherweight' Review: A Poetic Tribute to Boxing Champion Willie Pep". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  17. ^ Solomons, Adam (September 3, 2023). "'The Featherweight' Review: Robert Kolodny's Debut Film Is as Agile as Its Irrepressible Protagonist". IndieWire. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  18. ^ "Dana Thomas | Substack".
  19. ^ Ramachandran, Naman (November 7, 2023). "'Catching Dust,' 'The Featherweight' to Bookend Goa Film Festival, Michael Douglas to Deliver Masterclass". Variety. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  20. ^ "Provincetown Film Society Institute Festival Cinema Awards". provincetownfilm.org.
  21. ^ Carpenter, Scott (May 13, 2024). "RiverRun Announces 2024 Awards: Banel & Adama Wins Best Narrative and Name Me Lawand Wins Best Documentary". Yes Weekly. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  22. ^ Brody, Richard (September 18, 2024). ""The Featherweight" Deftly Probes the Mores—and the Filmmaking—of a Bygone Era". The New Yorker.
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