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$	103.0M	Marvel's The Avengers
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$	5.8M	Think Like a Man
$	4.5M	The Hunger Games
$	4.1M	The Lucky One
As of May 14, 2012

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Screen Spotlight Featured Reviews

Fighting

Written by Jonathan Jacobs

Typecasting is a funny thing. There are times when it can work in one’s favor. The late great Pat Morita (Mr. Miagi) was the go to "Asian guy" in the 70s and 80s, and he parlayed it into an amazing career. I suppose it didn’t hurt that he was a brilliant actor who excelled at the trade, but that’s beside the point. Some actors do all they can to break from being forced into any kind of characterization that tends to repeat itself film after film, even if said characterization is what gave them their break.

Fighting is about a seemingly random street vendor, Shawn MacArthur (Channing Tatum), who is willing to hock anything and everything in order to turn a buck. One day he winds up doing his selling in a section of town that has already been "claimed" by another group of vendors and he is forced to fight his way out of a bit of a tense situation. "Luckily" for him, underground fight promoter/manager Harvey Boarden (Terrence Howard) sees the scuffle and recruits Shawn to street fight for cash.

My opening paragraph discussed typecasting. This film is full of that (Terrence Howard as the teacher/mentor/coach AGAIN!?!!??). How many times have we seen Channing Tatum play the affable "bad boy with a heart of gold" who turns his life around and rises up above the odds to win glory and honor and the love of a beautiful girl? It is a little sad in a way, because to me Channing is so much better an actor than some of the soulless roles he’s played in the past. Step Up anyone? The odd thing about Mr. Tatum, however, is that he seems to bounce back and forth. He went from the mediocrity that is She’s The Man and Step Up to a brilliant role in A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints, then back to pedestrian in Step Up 2, and returned to his best form in Stop Loss. With two recent non-type cast roles in what turned out to be blockbuster sensations (Public Enemies and G.I. Joe), let’s hope the man keeps on getting the roles that I know he is capable of mastering. Channing Tatum has a depth to him as an actor that many do not give him credit for.

Fighting is passable at best. There were several things I liked and several I took issue with. The pace of the film seemed rushed. Everything happened so fast. There was not enough time devoted to the relationship that progressed to staggering heights from seemingly out of nowhere between Shawn and the somewhat shady Zulay Henao (Zulay Valez). Also, there wasn’t enough devoted to the film’s foundation, fighting. Honestly, Shawn fights four times and two of those don’t really count (watch and you’ll see). Even during the fleeting moments when the fighting was decent, the camera work catching the action wasn’t what it should be and annoyed me enough to take away from the essence of the film.

There was some semblance of quality in this film however. Although the role seemed a bit meager for Tatum, he did with it what he could. His charm is endearing and when he plays the good guy from the wrong side of the tracks he really makes you want to cheer for him. His interactions with Terrence Howard worked as well. Although Howard’s character seemed a bit off, (his mannerisms and his tone of voice were confusing at times) to me somehow, I still found the scenes enjoyable.

This film does well to rise above (even if only slightly) what you might expect it to be. It may seem like I gave it a bit of an unfair shake, but they say were always harshest towards the ones we love (or kind of think is ok). I would recommend this film because I think Channing Tatum is a good actor and there is enough here to keep a viewer entertained.