| The Featherweight | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Robert Kolodny |
| Screenplay by | Steve Loff |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Adam Kolodny |
| Edited by | Robert Greene |
| Music by | Retail Space |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Tribeca Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $22,011[1][2] |
The Featherweight is a 2024 Americanbiographicalsports drama film directed byRobert Kolodny, written by Steve Loff, and starringJames Madio as professional boxerWillie Pep.[3] It premiered at the80th Venice International Film Festival.[4]
Set in 1964, adirect cinema camera crew follows Willie Pep, retired two-time worldfeatherweight boxing champion. Now living inHartford, Connecticut with his wife Linda, an aspiring actress half his age, a drug-addled son, his Italian immigrant parents, mounting debts and the feeling of faded glory ... Pep decides to make a return to the ring.[5]
Filming occurred inHartford, Connecticut in late 2021, utilizing real locations from Willie Pep's life.[10] Kolodny cast both professional actors and locals to heighten the nonfiction aesthetic of the film.[11] Aside from Robert Kolodny, who spent the years as a documentary cinematographer on films likeProcession andAll the Beauty and the Bloodshed, the team behind the film involved several celebrated filmmakers from the documentary community, includingSteve James as executive producer andRobert Greene as editor.
The film received a five-minute standing ovation at its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival.[12]
It went on to be selected as the closing film of the54th International Film Festival of India[13] and the showcase screening of theMuseum of the Moving Image's First Look Festival. Robert Kolodny was awarded the prize for best director at both theProvincetown International Film Festival[14] and theRiverRun International Film Festival.[15]
The Featherweight was released in the United States by mTuckman Media on September 20, 2024.[16] It was the highest-grossing film at theQuad Cinema during its opening weekend, where it sold out three evening shows on consecutive nights, causing it to be held over for an additional week.[17]
After its theatrical run, Tribeca Films acquiredThe Featherweight for streaming, worldwide.[18]
The New Yorker namedThe Featherweight one of the best films of 2024.[19] It received praise byIndiewire, who compared thecinéma vérité toJohn Cassavetes[20] andDana Thomas calling it a "mash-upMean Streets andRaging Bull " in The Style Files.[21]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 83% of 12 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.5/10.[22]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 79 out of 100, based on five critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[23]
The New Yorker'sRichard Brody said ofThe Featherweight "Kolodny’s film is a touching, disquieting, relentlessly fascinating view of a troubled soul and of the world of trouble he belongs to. It’s an instant classic of a boxing movie, with its closeup view of the inseparable agonies and passions of a sport that’s shadowed with death. It’s an absorbing journalistic glance behind the scenes at a once-famed historical figure. But, above all, it’s a work of critical cinematic history, of self-criticism regarding the practice of nonfiction film—and, as such, it’s a vital reflection on the present day."[24]
