Bleed for This is not spectacular in any particular way, but it is a heartfelt and solid boxing drama; among the sub-genre's recent examples, it falls short of the excellence of The Fighter and Creed, but it is far more authentic and coherent than either Southpaw or Hands of Stone. Miles Teller—an actor it is slightly disconcerting to find playing a boxer, but he delivers the required intensity and also clearly frequented the gym—plays Vincent "Vinny Paz" Pazienza, a Rhode Island pugilist who held world titles in three separate weight classes during a two-decade career. This film focuses on a particularly painful and then miraculous chapter in its subject's life: in the early 1990s, his tenure as a fighter was threatened after a severe car crash nearly severed his spinal cord and precipitated the months-long use of a Halo, a traction device drilled into the skull. Against his doctor's orders and his family's wishes, Pazienza secretly maintained a rigorous exercise regime before unexpectedly and triumphantly returning to the ring. It is an interesting and inspirational true story, and Boiler Room director Ben Younger—returning to film after an eleven-year hiatus—tells it crisply, emphasizing the grit and rhythm of life in wage-earning, salt-of-the-earth Providence.

B