Seconds out - ding ding! Movieland is replete with tales of similar films coincidentally finding themselves fighting toe-to-toe: Robin Hood and Prince Of Thieves; Capote and Infamous; Snow White & The Huntsman and Mirror Mirror; most recently Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down. Joining that fine tradition we now have a pair of old man boxing movies. In the red corner, Sly Stallone and Robert De Niro in **Grudge Match. And now, newly arrived in the blue corner, please welcome James Caan and Louis Gossett Jr. in **Fighting Man.
OK, so it's not quite the heavyweight Rocky / Raging Bull pairing of its rival, but Caan has The Godfather and a Peckinpah film under his belt (not to mention the excellent and underrated Peckinpah homage Way Of the Gun), while Gossett took the gloves off for four Iron Eagles and the Dolph version of The Punisher. There's still more than a whiff of testosterone in the air. Or is it Old Spice?
The slightly wishy-washy plot synopsis we've got so far gives us "the story of two men who meet head to head in the ring for a fight that will change their lives. One man fights for redemption and forgiveness while the other fights for hope and change. In the end, win or lose, they realize they need each other to make it through." Which all sounds a bit Play It To The Bone to us, but time will tell.
There's no arguing with the supporting cast though, which includes Famke Janssen, Michael Ironside, Dominic Purcell and the ever-reliable Kim Coates. Damian Lee (A Dark Truth, Breakout) is the writer and director, and shooting starts this week in Ontario.