Sydney Sweeney never gets off the ropes in the boxing drama 'Christy'
- Sydney Sweeney delivers a competent performance as Christy Martin in the sports drama "Christy," portraying the real-life figure who became a prominent female boxer in the 1990s.
For all those wondering: Sydney Sweeney gives a perfectly competent performance in the new sports drama "Christy."
She believably portrays real-life figure Christy Martin, a West Virginian who overcame adversity to become one of the most well-known female boxers of the 1990s. Heartbreak spills from Sweeney's eyes as Christy suppresses her lesbian identity to marry Jim Martin (Ben Foster), a man twice her age who serves as her manager and coach. The actress's body language shrinks as Jim abuses Christy throughout their 19-year marriage, during which she channels her frustration into landing punches.
Sweeney is good as Christy but not great , in part because director David Michôd (" War Machine ," " The King ") doesn't offer her material that's sufficiently nuanced. The film — which Michôd co-wrote with Mirrah Foulkes, based on a story by Katherine Fugate — is a run-of-the-mill biopic that suffers from its inability to convey what truly sets Christy's narrative apart from the rest.
There was plenty of runway to do so. The events of "Christy" span decades, starting in the late 1980s, when 21-year-old Christy's domineering mother, Joyce (Merritt Wever), pushes her into Jim's too-eager arms in an effort to erase her queerness. Joyce refuses to see Jim's physical and emotional abuse toward Christy, instead focusing on their professional successes as a couple: In 1993, for instance, Jim appears to help Christy sign a deal with the famed boxing promoter Don King (Chad Coleman). But viewers know from watching the Martins interact that Christy's achievements generally occur in spite of her husband rather than because of him. She wins 49 matches and has only lost five by the time their marriage ends violently in 2010.
It isn't difficult to imagine why Sweeney decided to take on this role. The actress — already a tabloid fixation before this year's " great jeans " controversy — hasn't yet achieved the level of professional esteem held by peers such as her "Euphoria" co-stars Zendaya and Jacob Elordi . Her business savvy helped boost box-office returns for the 2023 romantic comedy "Anyone but You," but her performances have fallen short of awards-worthy. "Christy" offered her the chance to pull off a dramatic transformation — defined muscles , shaggy wigs and all.
Sweeney proves adept at playing Christy's haughtiness, which is only briefly on display, such as when she tells a TV interviewer that she doesn't care to publicly champion women's sports because "I'm not here to give some sort of leg up to other women. I'm here for one thing, and that's Christy Martin." The actress leans into Christy's arrogance with arched eyebrows and a matter-of-fact expression that dares anyone to challenge her. By focusing more on this public persona, Michôd could have underscored the startling truth of how anyone, even a brash professional boxer, can be affected by domestic abuse. Instead, he devotes far too much screen time to the Martins' dysfunctional home life, in which Christy is reduced to a one-dimensional victim.
Foster tries his best to prevent Jim, a dangerous manipulator, from turning into a bombastic cartoon villain. But his efforts are thwarted by an uninspired script and overbearing music from composer Antony Partos. Foster's performance can't breathe. Most of the supporting characters are thinly written, which is especially disappointing when it comes to Lisa Holewyne (Katy O'Brian), a former boxing rival who Christy ends up marrying after her divorce from Jim. Christy's queerness is a footnote; a more thoughtful film might have paid closer attention to her relationship with Holewyne, particularly because O'Brian, who was brilliant in the 2024 lesbian bodybuilding drama " Love Lies Bleeding ," captivates whenever she's on camera.
The actual boxing scenes are realistic but staid, serving only to usher the plot along. The visual style Michôd accomplishes with cinematographer Germain McMicking is similarly unremarkable, relying on a dull color palette that signals Prestige Drama without any of the narrative legwork. It's a pity how poorly the film conveys the dynamism that characterized Martin's most successful years as an athlete. "Christy," a biopic that plays by the rules, doesn't do justice to an athlete who gloriously broke so many of them.
R.At area theaters. Contains language, violence, bloody images, some drug use and sexual material. 135 minutes.
