Jawbone tells the
story of Jimmy McCabe (Johnny Harris) – a former celebrated boxer whose life
has spiraled out of control. A year after Jimmy’s mom has passed away, he finds
himself facing eviction and suffering from a serious drinking problem. Jimmy is
down on his luck, is desperate for money, has been arrested due to his
uncontrollable temper, and does indeed get evicted – making him homeless. Jimmy
decides that he needs to turn his life around and that boxing is the way to get
his life back on track.
At his old boxing gym, Jimmy is greeted by a cast of
familiar faces from his past. His old trainer and owner of the boxing club –
Bill (Ray Winstone) – decides to help Jimmy. Before agreeing to train him
again, Bill makes it clear that alcoholism will not be tolerated. If Jimmy is
drunk or Bill stumbles across alcohol being brought into the club, Jimmy would
be out on his ass. Jimmy begins breaking into the club and sleeping there while
working out in the middle of the night to try and get back into fighting shape.
Still desperate for money, Jimmy agrees to an unlicensed boxing match against a
fierce and brutal competitor, but will he be ready in time?
Jawbone is a
redemption story through and through. We see Jimmy at the lowest of lows and
the audience gets behind him – hoping his tortured soul can get some salvation.
His journey is not an easy one and he is always fighting his demons –
alcoholism and his anger – but luckily for him he has a support system and an
outlet with boxing. It is uplifting to see Jimmy shift his energy from drinking
and being mad at the world into training and preparing for his fight. Boxing
gives him a sense of purpose, makes him feel like an actual person with some
worth – and he becomes a character we can root for.
Jawbone is
directed by Thomas Napper. Napper employs numerous close ups, providing the
audience with an extreme sense of Jimmy’s emotions and anguish. The camerawork
that Napper features throughout Jawbone is shaky and unsettled, similar to
Jimmy’s life. We get an idea of how Jimmy feels by the camera techniques that
give a figurative glimpse into his psyche. Johnny Harris has his fingerprints
all over the film, having also written and produced as well as starring in it.
Harris is able to successfully create a role for himself that showcases his
range of emotions. Of course, it wouldn’t be a true boxing movie without a
training montage, and Jawbone makes
sure to check that box. There are definitely better boxing films out there, but
Jawbone does manage to have you feel
for the characters and is a relatively entertaining story of a man finding his
purpose again – it just happens to be in the ring.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
