MOVIE REVIEW OF ”CHICK FIGHT” (2020)

In “Come Back To Me” director Paul Leyden’s “Chick Fight” (*** OUT OF ****), dames put up their dukes and puke up their blood at a female only underground boxing arena like their male counterparts in the Brad Pitt film “Fight Club” (1999). Comparably, this estrogen-driven, LGBTQ-friendly romantic comedy glamorizes stereotypes of sweaty, hard-bodied babes sparring in sexist tropes scavenged from landmark male boxing epics.

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Not surprisingly, this feel-good but featherweight female empowerment opus qualifies as neither the first nor the last movie about lady palookas. Indeed, several robust chick fighting films proceeded and undoubtedly influenced it. First, Frank Clarke’s “Blonde Fist” (1991) charted a woman’s rise to prominence as a professional boxer. Second, “Under Siege” darling Erika Eleniak came out punching in director Eugene Jarecki’s “The Opponent” (2000).

Third, Karyn Kusama’s “Girl Fight” (2000) offered “Fast and Furious” star Michelle Rodriguez hammering blows home. Fourth, in “Million Dollar Baby” (2004), Clint Eastwood showed Hilary Swank how to stay off the ropes. Fifth, we have Jonathan Dillon’s “Fight Night” (2008), featuring Rebecca Neuenswander.

Indian director Omung Kumar’s film “Mary Kom” (2014) is sixth, while Miguel Angel Ferrer’s “Female Fight Club” (2016) with Amy Johnston is seventh. Finally, Hüseyin Tabak’s “Gipsy Queen (2019) depicted a single mom who fed her family by climbing into the ring.

Nothing about “Chick Fight” is remotely original, but freshman scenarist Joseph Downey and Leyden put their charismatic cast through their paces with such giddy glee that you cannot help but enjoy this slick but shallow saga. Twenty years ago, the R-rated “Chick Fight” might have hoisted eyebrows with its profane dialogue, sexual innuendos, bloody fisticuffs, and fleeting drug use, but content like this now generates marginal shock value.

When we meet beautiful, blond, but woebegone Anna Wyncomb (Malin Akerman of “Rampage”), she is having a bad day. First, she finds herself out of toilet paper. Second, she watches helplessly as her Prius is repossessed. Third, not only are customers in her coffee shop growing scarce, but Anna also is still sinking in a sea of red ink.

Fourth, imagine Anna’s surprise when her recently widowed, blue-collar father, Ed (Kevin Nash of “John Wick”), a brawny Paul Bunyan type of a bruiser at 6′ 11¾,” comes out of the closet! Anna is still reeling in shock when he introduces her to Chuck, (Alec Mapa of “Hard Pill”), his sniggering, pint-sized, bespectacled, Asian boyfriend.

Ed explains his wife’s death and his subsequent loneliness has opened him up to a new kind of relationship. The sight of Chuck clinging happily to Ed spins Anna’s head. This topsy-turvy day is just warming up when Anna’s African American, XXX-sized, trash-talking, lesbian BFF barges through the door.

As it turns out, Charleen (Dulcé Sloan of “Baby Mama’s Club”) is also a pistol-packing, uniformed patrolwoman who loves to play with her handcuffs. She persuades Anna to smoke pot as well as gargle moonshine, courtesy of the police evidence locker, to sooth her soul.

It doesn’t help matters Anna hasn’t recovered from the recent death of her mom. Absent-mindedly, she knocks the joint into a puddle of illegal moonshine that Charleen had splashed on the floor. Later, an inferno engulfs Anna’s coffee shop. Naturally, our heroine had no insurance.

If things couldn’t possibly get worse, not only does Charleen order Anna to put a pillow case over her head, but she also escorts her into an illegal underground fight club for women! According to Charleen, Anna must confront her fears before she can achieve her dreams.

Anna finds herself in an auditorium with a boxing ring in a giant cage where women dodge haymakers. The catch is Anna must challenge an opponent before she can exit the club or she must battle the burly owner, Bear (Fortune Feimster of “Friendsgiving”), who won’t let her out without a scrap.

Reluctantly, our heroine squares off against a mousy librarian. Ms. Bookworm decks Anna with a sucker punch. Tradition dictates each victor must pin a dollar bill to a wall of fame papered with Washington’s portraits.

The major revelation of the evening for Anna is the news her dearly departed mom launched the shelter as a safe haven for women! Bear plays a video of Anna’s mom before she succumbed to cancer. Just as everything appears to be returning to normal, Anna encounters an upstart contender, Olivia (Bella Thorne of “Infamous”), about half her age who vows to annihilate her.

Not only does pugnacious Olivia want to take over the club, but she also aims to steer in fresher blood and oust the old dames! Predictably, Olivia flattens three adversaries at once in short order, and this feat petrifies poor Anna.

Charleen introduces Anna to an unorthodox trainer, Murphy (Alec Baldwin of “Heaven’s Prisoners”), a pot-bellied drunkard who can’t carry a tune in a bucket at a karaoke bar. Miraculously, no matter where he lands after he falls, Murphy never spills a drop! After he takes Anna on as a client, Murphy puts her through a rigorous boot camp reminiscent of Sylvester Stallone’s training in “Rocky” (1976). Murphy toughens Anna up.

First, she must burst a watermelon open with her fists while dancing barefoot on a sizzling hot Florida beach. Eventually, after slugging half the day away, she manages to pulverize the elusive, thick-skinned fruit! Second, Murphy teaches her to crave pain. Anna spars with a partner, but she must take the blows rather than parry them!

Director Paul Leyden keeps the action fast and frivolous, and “Chick Fight” taps out at a tolerable 97-minutes. Malin Akerman qualifies as a sympathetic underdog heroine who constantly finds herself stumbling over one predicament after another. Bella Thorne makes such an obnoxious but gorgeous villain you want to poke her in the face.

Alec Baldwyn behaves like he had a blast as Anna’s boozy trainer. “Chick Fight” ascends to hilarious heights every time comedian Dulcé Sloan steals the limelight to indulge in her brassy antics. Although it often pulls its punches, “Chick Fight” manages to go the distance.

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