Swing Bout

The Plot: It’s fight night in the boxing world but backstage there is plenty of drama swirling about. Swing bout boxer Toni (Ciara Berkeley) is a filler act in between the more high-profile matches for a televised audience. She listens to a motivational speech on her headphones, determined to fight her way to the top. She’s short on cash though and is instructed by her money-minded coach Emma (Sinead O’Riordan) to take a fall against promising newcomer Vicki (Chrissie Cronin). As Toni wrestles with her conscience, the staff around her wrestle with their own particularly dodgy dealings…

The Verdict: There’s a well-established format for boxing films. There’s usually an underdog, a pro-fighter, a child to be protected, a distant ex-partner, personal and professional demons to be confronted and a climactic match in the ring in which victory is not always obvious. What if only some of those elements came into play and even then turned out not as expected? Jump into the ring with Swing Bout, an Irish boxing film that is not what it seems. The second feature from writer-director Maurice O’Carroll is very much an exercise in economy. A single backstage location involving training rooms, offices and surrounding corridors near the ring. A small group of actors whose characters are as much verbally fighting with each other as physically fighting. A lean script that charts a few hours in one night that might change the fate of all of its characters. The heat is on.

Swing Bout is ostensibly a character piece involving Toni, a troubled young woman who firmly believes that she can make it to the top. She’s in the fight game, but she needs to understand how to play the game i.e. dealing with the consequences of the business end of it. That’s not always above board either. As events unfold backstage involving fighters, coaches, managers and promoters, it becomes apparent that there’s a lot more going on here – to the point where it becomes more of an ensemble piece. That’s not the only element that comes across as alternative thinking. Surprisingly, this is a boxing film that doesn’t focus on the boxing itself. Maybe it was budgetary concerns or a deliberate choice on O’Carroll’s part to focus on the human drama behind the scenes. It’s a bold choice on his part to depart from the formula, but its success is only partially apparent.

O’Carroll scores marks whenever the camera is focused on Ciara Berkeley, making her feature debut as Toni. She’s got screen presence, grace and a sparky attitude in which a lot of her character’s anger and frustration is internalised but channelled in the right direction. Chrissie Cronin also does well as Vicki, all mouth in the training room but deep down has to deal with the insecurities of what’s about to unfold in the ring. There are bigger things at stake in this story though, with O’Carroll plotting a course through several different sub-plots – perhaps one too many. He shows a good command of his actors, but this is a busy film with a lot of moving parts and they don’t entirely gel together. The ambition of tough but aspirational female boxers contrasted with obvious male-on-male aggression is jarring at times. O’Carroll makes this point towards the end, but it also has the unfortunate effect of coming across as mis-judged.

If O’Carroll had focused more on Toni’s story and thereby used more of Berkeley, then Swing Bout could have been more meaningful and scored an extra star. That said though, there are enough decent performances, backstage intrigue, focused direction and a tense atmosphere to make Swing Bout a punchy affair. It’s not a knock-out by any means but it’s got the stamina to go 90 minutes without overstaying its welcome. This one is punching above its weight.

Rating: 3 / 5

Review by Gareth O’Connor