The Bronze

The Bronze casts Melissa Rauch as Hope Greggory, a former gymanistics wunderkind who’s been coasting on her success and infamy since winning a medal at the 2004 Olympics – with Hope forced to finally grow up after she’s reluctantly convinced to train an up-and-coming athlete (Haley Lu Richardson’s Maggie). Filmmaker Bryan Buckley, working from a subdued screenplay by Melissa and Winston Rauch, is clearly going for the low-key, less-than-eventful feel of a character study here, with Rauch’s unapologetically unlikable turn as the bitter and angry protagonist certainly going a long way towards perpetuating that vibe. The relentlessly unpleasant ambiance, perpetuated by an almost total lack of laughs and ongoing emphasis on grim happenings, ensures that The Bronze‘s first half is often a chore to sit through, and yet it’s equally clear that the movie, past a certain point, does begin to morph into something that’s at least watchable – with the narrative eventually adopting the feel of a generic underdog story that, when coupled with a softening of Rauch’s abrasive character, paves the way for a fairly rousing third act. The late-in-the-game addition of a sweet romantic subplot between Hope and Thomas Middleditch’s socially-awkward Ben ultimately confirms The Bronze‘s place as a thoroughly erratic yet somewhat entertaining drama, with the film, in the end, generally satisfying Rauch’s presumed goal of separating herself from her squeaky Big Bang Theory character.

**1/2 out of ****