"Christy" arrives in theaters this week, promising a powerful biopic about legendary boxer Christy Martin. Once known as "The Coal Miner's Daughter," the West Virginia boxer was one of the pioneers of professional women's boxing, even at one point rising to hold the WBC female super welterweight title.
It also promises a transformative performance from Sydney Sweeney, who is taking on the task of portraying Martin. Sweeney packed on some serious muscle to play the champion fighter, reportedly putting on anywhere from 30-35 pounds depending on what interview you read.
Potential spoilers for "Christy" beyond this point
But Martin's boxing career and Sweeney's transformation aren't the only reasons why "Christy" should be such a draw. The boxer turned motivational speaker has had a tortured past, from alleged sexual abuse as a child, dealing with being a closeted lesbian for most of her life, and, infamously, her husband attempting to murder her in their Florida home.
There's no denying that Christy Martin's story is compelling. This biopic has the potential to deliver more than a few knockout blows. But instead, what "Christy" delivers is a movie that cannot decide what tone it wants to take over its 135-minute runtime, and not even Sweeney delivering a few knockdown moments can save it.
Malcolm has been with Tom's Guide since 2022, and has been covering the latest in streaming news, shows and movies since 2023.
'Christy' is a tonal rollercoaster
There are basically two paths that "Christy" could take in delivering its story. It could choose to be a more traditional biopic, telling the story of a woman who rises from a town of less than two thousand and an unhealthy family dynamic to eventually become a champion. Or, it could choose to be a true crime horror movie about a woman in an abusive relationship, in no small part because she's forced to be in the closet about her sexuality.
To be fair to "Christy," it knows these are the two tones the movie can take. The problem is that it tries to be both, and it comes at the expense of the film's momentum. The movie starts with Christy fighting in West Virginia and eventually getting out of her hometown, and chronicles her rise up the ranks of professional boxing. It also certainly doesn't shy away from painting her husband and would-be killer, James V. Martin (Ben Foster), as an abusive husband and all-around terrible person.
But "Christy" fails to give either of these plotlines their due. Yes, we see Christy's rise through the ranks of boxing, but the fights themselves are largely overlooked. The film, in its effort to cover most of Christy's life, utilizes time jumps on more than one occasion, and chunks of her career are shown as mere moments in a montage or ignored completely. Remember how I've mentioned on more than one occasion that Christy goes on to be a titleholder? Well, that's more than the movie mentions it; it skips over her title-winning bout entirely.
This would all be forgivable, though, if the movie focused solely on Christy's abusive relationship with James and her emotionally abusive relationship with her ultra-conservative mother (Merritt Wever). Especially because the movie and Sweeney deliver their biggest blows in the moments that focus on these relationships that shaped Christy's life. The climactic scene where James tries to kill Christy is harrowing and by far the best part of the movie.
But again, the movie skips over so many of the horrifying elements of Christy's abuse. Some elements are alluded to, such as videos that James made her film and then later disseminated. And the movie does take care to lay some groundwork that he's an evil person who will definitely try and kill her, to the point where it's not always subtle.
Still, ultimately, the true crime horror movie that this movie could have been — and a good one at that — fails to coalesce as it's consistently undercut by the movie also trying to be an uplifting, more traditional sports biopic. While Sweeney impresses at times, it's ultimately not enough to save the movie from its own mistakes.
Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!
More from Tom's Guide
- 41 years later, Steven Spielberg and Chris Columbus reunite for 'Gremlins 3'
- Netflix's new historical drama 'Death by Lightning' fails to live up to its electric premise despite an incredible cast
- This is the cheapest way to watch ESPN while it's gone from YouTube TV
Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
