The Cut

Directed by Sean Ellis, The Cut follows a has-been boxer (Orlando Bloom) as he agrees to participate in an upcoming fight in Las Vegas – with complications ensuing as it’s revealed Bloom’s nameless figure must lose about 30 pounds in less than a week. Filmmaker Ellis, armed with a script by Justin Bull, delivers a slightly erratic yet mostly rewarding endeavor that puts an impressively novel spin on a well-worn premise, as the movie, which runs an appreciatively brisk 99 minutes, boasts a familiar first half that eventually gives way to something far darker and sinister – with the picture’s grim atmosphere heightened by Bloom’s committed, completely believable turn as the grizzled protagonist. (He’s so grizzled, in fact, that it’s sometimes difficult to discern what he’s saying, and there’s little doubt that the actor’s penchant for mumbling and muttering his way through his dialogue diminishes the impact of a few key sequences.) It’s clear, too, that The Cut’s engaging feel is perpetuated by John Turturro’s scene-stealing, mesmerizing turn as the unscrupulous, tough-as-nails trainer tasked with helping Bloom’s character lose all that weight, while the movie’s almost impressively bleak final stretch ensures that it concludes on a rather memorable note – with the final result a better-than-expected sports drama that rarely unfolds as one might’ve anticipated.

*** out of ****