by Erin Free
Worth: $17.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Parker Little, David Cook, Tyrel Dulvarie, Matt Young
Intro:
...a winningly tough but profoundly sensitive tale...
With his quietly striking debut Heart of the Man, talented writer, director, actor and producer David Cook punches hard and fast with this winningly tough but profoundly sensitive tale of a young man trying to escape the shadow of his legendary boxer father. The filmmaking is muscular and authentic, the performances are deeply affecting, and the themes and central concerns duck and weave beautifully in a stunning display of topicality that set up Heart of the Man as a film distinctly of its time.
On-the-rise young boxer Chris Wundurra (Parker Little is a very warm and engaging presence here) has forever quaked ever-so-slightly in the long-cast shadow of his old man, Sammy Wundurra (David Cook brings a real sense of power and gravitas to the role), an imposing former boxing champ tagged with the moniker of Wonder-Man. Though Chris has alternate influences in his big-hearted grandmother (the excellent Roxane McDonald) and café owning friend Marcus (the scene-stealing Sean Dow), Sammy’s hold over Chris is vice-tight. Wracked with guilt over the death of his wife and the role he played in it, Sammy pushes Chris to swing for a national boxing championship, something he never had a shot at. But when Chris meets Jamie (charming newcomer Tyrel Dulvarie, who danced with the Bangarra Dance Theatre), and is taken under the wing of gay theatre owner Joey (Matt Young hits all the right notes), he eventually realises that he’s on a very different journey altogether.
Walking the line between tough and tender is no easy feat, but David Cook manages it impressively here, not shying away from the violence and brutality of boxing – especially in the occasionally daunting figure of Sammy Wundurra, who seems primed to explode at any moment – but also adeptly showcasing a far more gentle world that sits as its seeming polar opposite. Touching on themes of gender, family, identity, race, and cyclical violence, Heart of the Man is ingeniously low-key and highly ambitious at the same time, striking with strategically applied force when necessary, but never overplaying its hand.
