GamesRadar+ Verdict
Gives the boxinš½g pic a vigorous workout. Harris commits himself fully, both emotionally and physicallą“y.
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Jawbone review: "Gives the boxing pic a vigorous workout"
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In decent boxing movies, it isn’t the muscle that keeps us on our toes. Vulnerability is the suckerpunch of the genre’s canniest entries, reminding us that something is at stake – be it flesh, pride or a life. And the stakes run high in ę¾³ę“²å¹øčæ5å¼å„å·ē åå²ę„čÆ¢:London to Brighton/Fortitude actor Johnny Harris’ multi-tasking debut as writer ašnd lead in a London-set drama delivered with one-two wallops of stylish force and feeling.
Drawing on personal history for Jimmy McCabe, an ex-boxer on his uppers, Harris doesn&rsquš§o;t go soft on his lead character. Sprawled on his floor in a block of flats awaiting demolition, Jimmy doesn’t look like he’s built to last, either. As first-time feature helmer Thomas Napper rams the camera up close to every life-etched crease on Jimmy’s face, Jawbone is established as an unforgiving, interior character study more than a straight genre workout.
McCabe once had class and bottle as a fighter, we hear, and wants to regain both (plus two grand) in an unlicensed bout up north. But another kind of bottle might kill him first: as he makes phone calls about training, the shop-š”lit off-licence shelf is a twinkle in the corner of his eye, signalling his losing battle with the booze.
