WELCOME TO THE PUNCH

Police officer Max Lewinsky disregards the order from his superior and tries to stop a robbery single-handedly. The robber Jacob Sternwood shoots Lewinsky in the leg and gets away. Three years later Lewinsky has turned into a washed-up cop without purpose. The events of the robbery, especially the shooting haunts him daily. But all this changes when Sternwood is forced to resurface because is son gets shot and afterward apprehended by police. Lewinsky’s goal is to bring Sternwood to justice while Sternwood’s goal is to find out who is responsible for shooting his son. The paths of both men will converge when they discover that they’re entangled in a much more shadowy conspiracy.

This film is not an action movie; it’s not a heist movie either. What it is; is a British independent crime thriller. The low budget qualifies it as an ‘independent’ film, the murder and corruption constitutes the ‘crime’ ingredient but as far as it being a thriller is debatable. Most British crime films in the past incorporate humorous elements regardless of how dark the subject matter is. But Welcome to the Punch differs in that aspect for it contains absolutely no humor whatsoever. The trailer is misguiding because it sets the film up as a ‘cop versus robber’ story. If it remained as that, it would have probably been much better, instead the filmmaker decided to add pointless complexity, messing up to the story in the process. Every crime thriller doesn’t require a plot similar to that of The Usual Suspects (1995) or The Departed (2006) because in this day and age simple and concise stories can work just as well. The story just tries too hard to be something its not. What’s more glaring than the hap-hazard story is the total lack of character development. Lewinsky seems to suffer from a severe case of tunnel vision. He is unable to let go of the past and just move on. I feel like shouting, hey Lewinsky, you only got shot in the leg; it’s not as if you got it amputated. You were a rookie cop who got dominated by a seasoned robber, no shame in that, just consider it as a lesson learnt. And yes, yes draining the fluid from inside your knee on a daily basis is a hassle but doesn’t that build character. Sternwood is also a one-dimensional character without a discernable back-story; in fact none of the characters have back stories. I found it impossible to empathize with the leading character as well as his female partner. If I don’t care about the hero or his journey then I will automatically not care about what happens in the story.

James McAvoy who plays the lead character ‘Max Lewinsky’ is a talented actor. And although this particular character is a departure from the types of roles he usually does, McAvoy manages to pull it off by the skin of his teeth. Mark Strong who plays Sternwood is surprisingly underused. Newcomer Andrea Riseborough plays Lewinsky’s partner Sarah. There are no shortcomings in regards to her acting either but there are definitely inadequacies in the character. The actors suffer due to the lack of depth in there roles and are just forced to make the most of it. Similar to many movies of today the cinematography and score is this film’s redeeming qualities. The night vistas of London are novel and eye-catching. It captures the city in a unique light that hasn’t been seen in other British films. The score integrates techno beats with a little industrial music thrown in for dramatics.

This is writer/ director Eran Creevy’s sophomore effort, having directed the film Shifty back in 2008. But this is his first film that includes two A-List actors, namely McAvoy and Strong. Creevy has an aptitude for stylizing the cinematography with his use of high-angle and super slow-motion shots. Harry Escott’s score adds even more style to the overall picture. But these somewhat superficial essentials are not enough to distract from the holes in the plot. The lead character’s motivation goes from simple revenge to uncovering a conspiracy to all out disregard for career or life at the end. This drastic character arc doesn’t make sense. Furthermore the open-ended ending is uncalled for and is simply frustrating. Open-endings should be reserved for existential cinematic journeys such as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Inception (2010) and not for a run-of-the-mill crime thriller. Straight forward films like this feel incomplete when a proper ending is absent. As far as this story is concerned, Creevy has bitten off more than he can chew.

Rating: 3/10

S. V. Fernando