Film Review - Christy
Images courtesy of Roadshow Films and Kismet Movies.
Before the 1990s, women in boxing were almost unheard of, until Christy Martin came along and changed the entire game. David Michôd’s biopic Christy, following the U.S. sporting legend and pioneer, chronicles not only her fight within the ring, but a much larger one outside of it and against the world.
Sydney Sweeney plays Christy, who goes by her family surname Salters as a high school basketball player in the late 1980s. She has a toughness and grit to her, and already faces challenges at home, such as her mother (Merritt Wever) disapproving of her sexual relationships with other women. Though she has no training in the sport, Christy catches the attention of boxing coach Jim Martin (Ben Foster), who sees the natural gift and fire she possesses. He becomes her trainer and manager, entering her into fights where she continually beats her opponents. Once Christy signs a contract with high profile boxing promoter Don King (Chad L. Coleman), she becomes the most successful female boxer of the 1990s, and creates a competitive and aggressive public persona for herself. However, her life outside of the ring isn’t so triumphant. Jim becomes controlling of Christy, and despite her being a lesbian, they get married. The pair live a comfortable life on the outside, but Jim’s behaviour becomes increasingly erratic and violent. When it grows out of control, the situation becomes a matter of life-or-death for Christy.
Let’s start by addressing the elephant in the room. Sweeney has been a major point of discussion in Hollywood over the past few months due to her political views. From a problematic jean ad to being outed as a Republican, she has received a lot of publicity as of late. Many believe this is why Christy spectacularly flopped at the box office in the United States, but there is no way to know for sure. Sweeney has always been the subject of controversy, ever since she broke out in HBO’s Euphoria. Playing promiscuous teen Cassie Howard, the actress has been endlessly objectified by the internet, with people choosing to focus on her looks rather than her acting abilities. The transformative role of Christy presents the perfect opportunity for Sweeney to prove herself, and luckily for her, she does. All politics aside, she gives a really tremendous performance. Gone is the blonde bombshell viewers are used to seeing, as Sweeney disappears into the role both physically and mentally. She does justice to Martin, whose story is equally inspirational and heartbreaking. The juxtaposition between the success she finds as a female trailblazer and the horrific abuse she suffers at the hands of her husband is devastating, and Sweeney and co-star Foster effectively portray this on screen. However, viewers are constantly reminded of Martin’s strength both in and outside of the boxing ring, and that she never goes down without a fight.
Australian director Michôd has previously impressed with gritty films such as Animal Kingdom (2010) and The King (2019), and it’s noticeable that some of his previous visual flair is missing from the frames of Christy. The film isn’t without its clichés, which are hard to avoid in sports movies, but overall, Christy is an engaging and moving biopic about an incredible woman. It is a real disservice to Martin that this film hasn’t performed well.
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Christy is screening in cinemas from Thursday the 8th of January. For tickets and more info, click here.