"Being a man doesn't come Easy" -Never Back Down Movie Review

"Being a man doesn't come Easy" -Never Back Down

(No Spoilers- Trailer and Xtra-Clips at the bottom:  Never Back Down Training WEpisode and Amber Heard interview)

Never Back Down is about a high school male Sean Faris (Reunion, Smallville) named Jake Tyler who has personal problems: his father, while drunk, drove into a tree and killed himself. Jake was in the car and survived. Jake knew his dad was drunk, but didn't make any attempt to stop him before he drove. (This all happens before the movie begins.)

Jake is conflicted because not only does he blame himself, but his mother (Leslie Hope, quite good) seems to hold it against him too. And as time passes he becomes a problem teen, whose problems his mother dramatically recites as a growing pattern of statistics.

The family, Jake, his mother and a younger brother (Wyatt Smith, cute) move from Ohio to Florida so that the younger brother can study tennis.



Jake discovers that at the new high school there is an under-ground fight club. The catch is that the top fighters don't just box. If they did, Jake might have had a chance. "Boxing is old school, as dead as Louis and Marciano."




The movie revolves around two major themes: Everybody has their own fight, and never back down. How do you do this? According to the movie by facing your demons and overcoming bullies.

The movie has been compared to Karate Kid and Fight Club. It is not anything like the twisted plotline of Fight Club (the movie is in a class all it's own), but there is a fight club and one of the actors Ryan (Cam Gigandet) does look and act a bit like the ripped Brad Pitt from that movie.

It is much more mature and violent than Karate kid, but it does have a mentor teaching a guy discipline. The actor Djimon Hounsou ( read more about this actor here) plays Brazilian from Senegal who teaches conditioning, restraint, doggedness, and winning the mental game. I thought he was great.

The dialogue is flip and hip, the fight scenes are well `clipped'. I have been told that they don't exhibit the best fighting- but how they are filmed I thought, made them intense. See the training the actors went through in video at bottom of post.)

Amber Heard on top of Sean Faris

There is a romance sub plot , and a `what you do for your friends' angle. There is the `now-ness' of instant communication via youtube like videos. And though the movie is predictable in it's outcome - what makes it fresh is how the character of Jake really comes to understand his need for controlling his temper and anger, even if sometimes, the only thing a bully understands is a beat-down.



You Can Watch The Entire Movie On-Line right now
for $2.99 through Amazon Streaming Videoes  Click Here
   


Never Back Down Training Webisode


Amber Heard interview

Djimon Hounsou

DJIMON HOUNSOU Date of Birth: April 24, 1964

Born in the small village of Cotenou, in Benin, Africa, Djimon Hounsou fell in love with movies when he was a boy, going to the local theater every Wednesday to watch American westerns. The youngest of five children, he was sent by his parents to live with his oldest brother in Lyons, France to attend school there when he was 13, but he ran away and lived on the streets of Paris. For several years he was homeless, sleeping under bridges, searching garbage cans for food, begging for money and washing in a public fountain near the Pompidou Centre. He doesn?t like to talk about that time, but says, "I thought I could make my dreams come true in Paris but things always seemed to work against me."

That is, until he was discovered by French fashion designer Thierry Muglar. Muglar was looking for a complete unknown to be his new model and happened to see some photos that had been taken of Hounsou. The young man not only went on to become a top male model in Paris, but wound up travelling the world for various modelling jobs. His career took a turn in 1989 when Madonna saw him modelling in Los Angeles and asked him to be in her Express Yourself video. Although he didn?t need to speak English for the shoot, Hounsou realized that it would be a good idea to master the language if he wanted to move on to films and television work. Watching The Learning Channel, A&E and The Discovery Channel helped him to expand his vocabulary.

In the meantime, Hounsou appeared in more music videos for artists such as Steve Winwood, Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson. In 1990, he landed his first television role as a nightclub doorman on the television series Beverley Hills 90210. By 1996, he had only landed a few minor roles in small budget films when he suddenly got a call from Steven Spielberg. It turned out that the director had seen Hounsou?s videos and wanted him to audition for a role in his new film, Amistad (1997). Hounsou won the role of Joseph Cinqué, the leader of a slave revolt. The part was his big breakthrough, earning him a Golden Globe nomination.

In 1999, he landed a recurring role on the hit TV series E.R., playing Mobalage Ikabo in six episodes. His next big role in a feature film came when he played Juba in Gladiator (2000), starring Russell Crowe. Hounsou had no trouble finding work after that. In 2001 his command of French came in handy when he played a supporting role in the French film Le Boulet (2002). In The Four Feathers (2002), he played Abou Fatma, who helps Heath Ledger make it through the desert to rescue his friends. He also appeared in the western-themed film Muraya (2002), starring Michael Madsen and Juliette Lewis. In 2004, his career heated up when he received an Academy Award nomination for his role as a man with AIDS who is befriended by two young girls in In America (2003).



His second nomination came just a few years later, for his critically-acclaimed performance in Blood Diamond (2006). Hounsou lives in Los Angeles.

Filmography:

Push (2008)
Never Back Down (2008)
Eragon (2006)
Blood Diamond (2006)
The Island (2005)
Beauty Shop (2005)
Constantine (2005)
Blueberry (2004)
In America (2003)
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life (2003)
Biker Boyz (2003)
Muraya (2002)
The Four Feathers (2002)
Le Boulet (2002)
Gladiator (2000)
Deep Rising (1998)
The Small Hours (1997)
Ill Gotten Gains (1997)
Amistad (1997)
Stargate (1994)
Unlawful Entry (1992)
Without You I?m Nothing (1990)