Fighting Tommy Riley - Critical Response

Critical Response

Fighting Tommy Riley received generally positive reviews, with Eddie Jones frequently singled out for his performance. Variety gave the film an overall favorable review, citing Jones in particular for "personally push the movie to a higher emotional plane." Davis and Tayler are also praised, the former for "grow into role" and the latter for her "pro job at playing counterpoint" to Jones. Collectively the cast, but especially Jones, is said to elevate the picture above being a "standard drama on the sweet science with the usual tropes."

The San Francisco Chronicle largely agreed, calling Davis "a Van Damme who can act" and Jones "never less than convincing" as well as praising director O'Flaherty for "coach solid performances from his small cast and mak the most of the handful of up-close, well-choreographed fight montages." The Los Angeles Times was even more effusive, citing Jones as "unforgettable" and "in such command of his acting skills that Marty's every gesture, look and movement is expressive and revealing," Davis' script as "exceptional" and his performance "no less fully realized" and O'Flaherty's direction as "subtle...intense and convincing." Tayler and Chambers are also lauded, Tayler for creating a "well drawn" character and Chambers for delivering an "effective" performance. Sports Illustrated called the film "stylish and well-paced" despite its limited budget and echoes others' praise for Jones's "nuanced, intense performance," but (without mentioning the plot point of Marty's sexual advance) pinpoints the retreat to Marty's cabin as when the script "starts to look and sound like beginners' work."

When asked to name that year's notable indie films and directors, famed film critic Roger Ebert stated "First-time director Eddie O’Flaherty was able to work outside the system to make Fighting Tommy Riley, a film that I think can play in any theater or any multiplex. And yet it’s a boxing picture that is quite different from any formula boxing picture you’ve ever seen. In the final analysis, it’s not even really about boxing."

Strongly dissenting was the Village Voice, calling the film "utrageously sentimental and retrograde" and in need of "serious vetting by GLAAD." The Voice compared Marty's fate to that of other cinematic "self-loathing homosexuals" like Martha Dobie of The Children's Hour. However, writing for the LGBT-interest Advocate magazine, gay film researcher David Ehrenstein praised the film for "speak volumes about those whom the gay rights revolution never touched and about the lives of older gays and lesbians in general."

Cinematographer Michael Fimognari won the Kodak Award for Cinematography at the 14th Annual Hamptons International Film Festival. Fighting Tommy Riley was an official selection of the 7th Annual San Francisco Independent Film Festival and of the 2004 Los Angeles Film Festival.