Punch
First-time writer-director Welby Ings delivers a double-punch with his story of a teenage boxer going places while also coming to terms with his sexuality.
Jordan Oosterhof and Tim Roth
This film from New Zealand which marks the debut of its writer/director Welby Ings is being released in the UK by Peccadillo Pictures and provides an interesting comparison with their other recent release Golden Delicious. Both films are centred on a boy of seventeen becoming aware of his sexuality when attracted to another youth who is openly gay. Furthermore, both movies contain elements that seem to be aimed at drawing in audiences that extend beyond those who are themselves gay. Golden Delicious did it adroitly through its sensitive portrayal of the characters around the two young leads and by ensuring that the youth who came out also had other issues with which any audience could readily identify. Consequently, in spite of certain failings, that film worked. The very different method adopted in Punch is unfortunately much less successful: Ings as writer seeks to offer two stories in one, a coming out tale alongside a boxing drama. The same character, Jim Richardson (Jordan Oosterhof), is the key figure in each case but that doesn't mean that they cohere well.
Jim lives in a seaside town with his English father, Stan (Tim Roth), who acts as his boxing coach having once been in the ring himself. But dad is now an alcoholic and others want to take over the coaching as Jim prepares for a match which would be his first professional engagement. Meanwhile it is a chance incident that brings him into contact with a Māori boy named Whetu (Conan Hayes) who does not conceal the fact that he is gay. The latter has come to Jim’s aid after he had been stung by a jellyfish. The two youths soon become best friends and in time their relationship moves beyond the platonic. These two distinct plot lines are accompanied by a third thread concerning Jim’s relationship with his father.
It appears that Welby Ings is also a playwright but this first feature film following shorter pieces suggests somebody eager to be cinematic in his approach, be it in the use of montage or in instances of fast editing. But this comes at a cost since the wide screen is not always suited to this style. Even more seriously the writing fails to give the narrative the sense of flow that it really needs while also denying us background information which would help to flesh out the characters more fully (here again a comparison with Golden Delicious is all in that film’s favour). These weaknesses make one even more aware of the extent to which Punch keeps moving back-and-forth between its contrasted plot lines featuring first one and then the other.
Not altogether surprisingly it is the gay side of the material that works best. Jordan Oosterhof and Conan Hayes both possess a confident presence as the youngsters who are very much the central characters here and Hayes in particular acquits himself well. It is the case that Punch makes rather less than one might expect of the cross-racial element that comes from Whetu being Māori. However, the film does bring home very effectively the fact that, although outwardly attitudes to gay people have significantly changed (a teacher tells Whetu that nobody cares if he is gay), in practice deep homophobia can still be encountered. These aspects are handled in a way that makes it evident that the film’s heart is very much in the right place, but it's always less satisfying when it switches to scenes centred on Jim's boxing. As for Tim Roth, he is given star billing but, while he gives the adept performance that one would expect, his is very much a subsidiary role and hardly a rewarding one to play. Ultimately the three threads in the film do come together but even that proves to be rather problematic since each one reaches its climactic moment on the same day and that can't help but feel schematic. In the last analysis Punch is a film carried by its two leading actors and by the patent sincerity that Ings brings to his film. Consequently, it comes across as a sympathetic work albeit one that leaves us aware that in attempting to bring diverse themes together effectively it falls short.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Tim Roth, Jordan Oosterhof, Conan Hayes, Abigail Laurent, Wesley Dowdell, Sage Klen, Tom Clarke, Wilson Downes, Connor Johnston, John Watson, Calvin Tuteao, Joshua Stubbing.
Dir Welby Ings, Pro Catherine Fitzgerald and Robin Murphy, Screenplay Welby Ings, Ph Matt Henley, Pro Des Iain Aitken, Ed Paul Maxwell, Music David Long, Costumes Sara Beale.
Prospect Films/New Zealand Film Commission/The Yellow Affair-Peccadillo Pictures.
98 mins. New Zealand. 2022. UK Rel: 13 November 2023. Available on digital platforms. Cert. 15.
