‘Day of the Fight’ Review — Michael C. Pitt channels Brando in absorbing boxing drama

A review of the new film, in theaters December 6th, 2024

I’m someone who’s easily won over by sincerity. In a culture where everything seems to need a wink, a layer of irony, of cynicism, I love realizing that something I’m watching isn’t going to take that turn. It’s why I love the Wachowskis, for example, and why I was was ultimately pro-Megalopolis.

Writer/director Jack Huston’s new film Day of the Fight doesn’t contain an ounce of cynicism. This is the story of a boxer named “Irish” Mikey Flannigan (Michael C. Pitt), a one-time world champion. He’s been in prison for years, his career all but dead. However, on the day the film takes place, Mikey will compete in his first fight in a decade. At Madison Square Garden.

Day of the Fight follows Mikey from the moment he wakes up at 6AM. He works out, visits his favorite breakfast spot, stops in to see old friends, and more, heading off on a picaresque journey around New York City. Just about everywhere he goes, everyone tells Mikey how much they’re rooting for him. No matter what happened before, they tell him, he deserves this fight.

Mikey isn’t so sure, choked by a specifically Irish Catholic guilt. As the film unfurls, we realize that…