Christy (2025)
While narrative features looking at the lives and complexities of athletes have been a corner of cinema since the start of the art form, what has an even deeper history is the usage of narrative features to dramatize the lives and careers of real-life sports stars. The first ever feature sports film, 1915's 'Right Off the Bat", did just this as it dramatized the life of baseball player Mike Donlin. Over the next 110 years, countless of these features would be produced, with the newest coming in the form of David Michôd's Christy.
Screening as part of AFI Fest 2025, Christy tells the real-life story of the trauma and triumph of revolutionary female boxer Christy Martin. From struggling with her family's rejection of her sexuality to the abuse Martin (Sydney Sweeney) faced at the hands of her manager and husband James (Ben Foster), Christy projects itself to be an inspiring tale of overcoming the worst to find self-value and independence. Sadly, these are aspirations that ultimately fail to land as a dull execution and lackluster direction causes much of the film to fall flat.
By nearly every metric, Christy is an uninspired addition to the biographical sports genre, refusing to take any unexpected swings or break free of the cliches of the genre. While the life of Martin is one of incredible weight as her identity is repressed and torn apart by those close to her with no regard for her health or safety, the film displays this without energy or personality. While it is possible to add a layer of texture and nuance to a more cliched story, Ash Avildsen's Queen of the Ring from earlier in the year did just this. Christy never develops these layers and is painfully boring. It doesn't help that the film has to contend with a bloated 135-minute runtime, with the interest wearing thin by the time the first hour hits.
While the directing and screenplay are largely to blame for this, it doesn't help that the performances throughout the film are rather weak. While Sweeney does her best and most of her emotional sequences play well, the supporting cast is truly lifeless and continually takes the audience out of the drama being produced. This is yet another area that is difficult not to think back to Queen of the Ring, as the supporting cast in that film, specifically Josh Lucas, really elevates the project with the power and chemistry found within their interpersonal relationships.
Perhaps the greatest sin of Christy is how bland it feels in bringing to life the nuances and layers of Martin. It is natural to look at the life of Martin and find a compelling narrative, ranging from her having to shove down her identity and emotions with her parents to the toxic relationship she finds herself in as an adult. This is a character with layers, and is one that naturally builds empathy. However, the film drops the ball massively at actually exploring this depth. It is frustrating how quickly the film will drop a conversation or narrative, not mentioning a conflict for nearly the entire runtime, only to shoehorn it in once again right at the end. This is simply not engaging or moving filmmaking, which is disappointing to see for such a worthy story.
While Christy is not the worst movie of the year, the film is sadly an uninspired and largely boring sports biopic. Sweeney shows her strengths, but is constantly pulled down by the film around her, not allowed to have the breakout performance she feels destined for. For huge fans of the history of boxing and the story of Martin, the film still likely will provide something of value, but otherwise, it's easy to recommend that most skip this one.
Screening as part of AFI Fest 2025, Christy tells the real-life story of the trauma and triumph of revolutionary female boxer Christy Martin. From struggling with her family's rejection of her sexuality to the abuse Martin (Sydney Sweeney) faced at the hands of her manager and husband James (Ben Foster), Christy projects itself to be an inspiring tale of overcoming the worst to find self-value and independence. Sadly, these are aspirations that ultimately fail to land as a dull execution and lackluster direction causes much of the film to fall flat.
By nearly every metric, Christy is an uninspired addition to the biographical sports genre, refusing to take any unexpected swings or break free of the cliches of the genre. While the life of Martin is one of incredible weight as her identity is repressed and torn apart by those close to her with no regard for her health or safety, the film displays this without energy or personality. While it is possible to add a layer of texture and nuance to a more cliched story, Ash Avildsen's Queen of the Ring from earlier in the year did just this. Christy never develops these layers and is painfully boring. It doesn't help that the film has to contend with a bloated 135-minute runtime, with the interest wearing thin by the time the first hour hits.
While the directing and screenplay are largely to blame for this, it doesn't help that the performances throughout the film are rather weak. While Sweeney does her best and most of her emotional sequences play well, the supporting cast is truly lifeless and continually takes the audience out of the drama being produced. This is yet another area that is difficult not to think back to Queen of the Ring, as the supporting cast in that film, specifically Josh Lucas, really elevates the project with the power and chemistry found within their interpersonal relationships.
Perhaps the greatest sin of Christy is how bland it feels in bringing to life the nuances and layers of Martin. It is natural to look at the life of Martin and find a compelling narrative, ranging from her having to shove down her identity and emotions with her parents to the toxic relationship she finds herself in as an adult. This is a character with layers, and is one that naturally builds empathy. However, the film drops the ball massively at actually exploring this depth. It is frustrating how quickly the film will drop a conversation or narrative, not mentioning a conflict for nearly the entire runtime, only to shoehorn it in once again right at the end. This is simply not engaging or moving filmmaking, which is disappointing to see for such a worthy story.
While Christy is not the worst movie of the year, the film is sadly an uninspired and largely boring sports biopic. Sweeney shows her strengths, but is constantly pulled down by the film around her, not allowed to have the breakout performance she feels destined for. For huge fans of the history of boxing and the story of Martin, the film still likely will provide something of value, but otherwise, it's easy to recommend that most skip this one.