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MOVIES / ON DVD / GIRLFIGHT
Girlfight

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Girlfight (2000)

88%
90%
72%
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88 %
Reviews Counted: 90 Fresh: 79  Rotten:11 Average Rating: 7.3/10
 
Consensus: Michelle Rodriguez gives a compelling performance, despite lack of a boxing background; Karyn Kusama packs a punch with this directorial debut.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins

Synopsis: In GIRLFIGHT, Diana Guzman (Michelle Rodriguez) is a tough high school girl with a violent streak. Between problems at school, a father who belittles her, and a lonely social life, she searches for some way to find respect, love, and challenge. Diana finds all those things in the boxing ring at... In GIRLFIGHT, Diana Guzman (Michelle Rodriguez) is a tough high school girl with a violent streak. Between problems at school, a father who belittles her, and a lonely social life, she searches for some way to find respect, love, and challenge. Diana finds all those things in the boxing ring at a gritty Brooklyn gym, where she begins training against her father's will and eventually earns the gym's championship for female boxers. Rodriguez's performance is what carries the film, as she makes the character of Diana Guzman real in every sense. Guzman is an awkward teenage girl whose only advantage is that she's angry. As she channels this anger into determination, she doesn't become a flawless heroine--when she gets punched in the face, it hurts--but the way she grows internally is visible, and that is the truly beautiful thing about this film. Director Karyn Kusama should also be commended for the film's subtle communication of difficult family issues and its objectivity in telling this slightly feminist tale. The inspiring soundtrack features a terrific title song by Theodore Shapiro as well as hits by artists such as Queen Latifah. A story of willpower, strength, and endurance, GIRLFIGHT wins on all fronts. [More]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Michelle Rodriguez, Jamie Tirelli, Paul Calderon, Santiago Douglas

Director: Karyn Kusama
Producer: Sarah Green, Maggie Renzi, Martha Griffin
Composer: Theodore Shapiro

DVD Info

Release:

Mar 3, 2003

[DVD Details]

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image
2.5/5

A bit of a lightweight.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/01/08
James Mottram
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

Kusama's direction is imaginative, her attention to detail makes for credibility and clarity with regard to the dilemmas faced by her determined young heroine, and Rodriguez is quite astonishing in the lead role.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/09/06
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
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4/5

A low-key, naturalistic coming-of-age drama.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/10/01
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
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4/4

One of the best films of the year.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/16/01
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
UK Critic
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3/5

It's Rodriguez who gives the drama its punch.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/16/01
Neil Smith
BBC
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4/5

Much credit has to go to Rodriguez, Kusama's surly but charismatic lead.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/01/00
Emma Cochrane
Empire Magazine
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Ratings Image
N/A

It gives its fine actors room to breathe and behave -- and in Michelle Rodriguez's case, glow.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/01/08
Richard Schickel
TIME Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

For once, the advance buzz has been amply justified, thanks to an extraordinarily charismatic film debut by a non-professional named Michelle Rodriguez.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/27/07
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer
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N/A

For all the violence on view, Kusama's script insists on a real, wholly unsentimental tenderness.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/26/07
Matt Wolf
Associated Press
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3.5/4

It's a refreshingly straightforward and honest attempt, flying in the face of the rest of the product out there, which is either manipulating and dumb or tricky and arty.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/26/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
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B

It's obvious Kusama knew what she wanted and was in control, because all the key roles and scenes are played with a uniform tone and conviction.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/21/05
Louis B. Parks
Houston Chronicle
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B+

It's sensitive, it avoids sentimentalism, and it wins our cheers by giving us believable characters that we care about.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/06/04
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer
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3.5/4

A moving performance by newcomer Michelle Rodriguez showcases this moody Sundance showstopper about a Brooklyn teen who battles an age-old gender barrier.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/14/03
Jeanne Aufmuth
Palo Alto Weekly
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3/5

The strength of this Romeo and gym-rat story is Rodriguez's performance. She is a vivid powder keg of repressed and resurrected dreams and desires.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/10/02
Mark Halverson
Sacramento News & Review
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3/4

Like a smart boxer, Girlfight knows when to be light on its feet and when to hit hard.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/15/02
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)
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4/5

While it wonderfully confounds our narrative expectations as a coming-of-age story and a romantic drama, it works on another level as a great sporting experience.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/18/02
Peter Howell
Toronto Star
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2.5/4

The script is pure Rocky but the style is Girlz n' the Hood, and the two don't ever mesh.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/19/02
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
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3/4

First-time writer-director Karyn Kusama makes it seem believable (the big question is, how come someone with this much talent isn't getting more opportunities in Hollywood?).

Full Review | comment Comment
10/19/01
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope
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A

An impressive debut, an enthralling story about an urban teen finding her place in life. And that place happens to be a boxing ring.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/14/01
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com
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N/A

Rodriguez, taking punches as well as she dishes them out, is a champion whom women and men alike can cheer.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/11/01
Peter Keough
Anchorage Press
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