Walter Hill has a very diverse array of films in his directorial credits. From 1979’s The Warriors to 1992’s Trespass, most of Hill’s films have had a gritty, urban edge to them. 2002’s Undisputed keeps the grit, but takes the atmosphere behind bars.
Monroe Hutchens (Wesley Snipes) was a promising young boxer with an impressive string of wins when an unfortunate loss of temper landed him behind the bars of Sweetwater Prison. Sweetwater has a boxing program that pits boxers from Sweetwater and other prisons against each other every six months. Monroe is the undisputed champion on the prison circuit with 68 wins. On the outside, the undisputed Heavyweight champion is Alonzo “The Iceman” Chambers (Ving Rhames). The Iceman’s career is derailed when a young woman accuses him of raping her at a party. Chambers is found guilty and sentenced to serve time at Sweetwater.
Mendy Ripstein (Peter Falk), a one-time boxing promoter from the golden days of yesteryear, is serving time at Sweetwater for tax evasion. He gets one last shot at promoting a great fight: the undisputed champion of the outside world vs. the undisputed champion on the inside. Thanks to shady deals and mob involvement, the fight will serve to make all involved very wealthy. That is, if the two boxers don’t kill each other before the fight takes place.
Ving Rhames is excellent as the overconfident Iceman. His inability to accept that his freedom has been taken away and that the pecking order of the prison doesn’t give a damn about his riches on the outside is skillfully portrayed. Snipes, on the other hand, wrings what he can out of the Hutchens character but there isn’t much to squeeze out. In either case, it’s nearly impossible to sympathize with either boxer in the film. Both guys seem to have good qualities, but the script never gives enough details about either boxer’s circumstances to allow the audience to feel much more than indifference to their individual fates.
Even so, the boxing sequences are superb. They’re realistic enough to be believable and over-the-top enough to be entertaining. They’re not enough to save the film from being B-movie material, but they do save it from being mediocre.
Boxing film fans might want to check out Undisputed for the fight scenes, but those seeking a film with more meat might want to check elsewhere.
2.5 out of 5.0 stars
Buy on Amazon!
