They Fight

Ultimately, what distinguishes They Fight is that it doesn’t reach for the knockout. It wins on points, steadily piling up emotional victories until its themes of redemption and forgiveness leave you grappling for the Kleenex box.

The film’s nuanced moments are found in that encircling amity in which they all fight.

This remake never makes a convincing case for its own existence. Why watch the self-conflicted, contrived version of the story when you can watch the actual people, living actual lives, with actual consequences?

To the extent that They Fight is watchable, it’s due to the cast, but they can’t quite make it good.

The end result is a muddled, confused film that's unwilling to commit to any one aspect of its story.

Even the final fight succumbs to poor choreography, which is the kind of thing one wouldn’t notice if the movie had worked emotionally to that point. It simply never lands any of those punches.