Film Review – Uppercut

“Uppercut” has a slightly bewildering production history. It’s a remake of a 2021 German film, which was written and directed by Torsten Ruether. The helmer returns to create an English-language remake, which may have been originally conceived as two features, presented in “Still” and “Sparkling” versions. Whatever creative ambition was originally in place for the endeavor has been removed for the second stab at the premise, likely edited together from two tales of boxing challenges and relationship difficulties. Ruether hopes to bring some sporting philosophy and intimate characterizations to the effort, but “Uppercut” loses a battle with pacing and performance. It’s more of a theatrical production than a cinematic experience, and Ruether can’t make it come alive, struggling to generate interesting conflicts and concerns as this extremely talky picture frequently crawls to a full stop. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com