“Rocky meets The Pursuit of Happiness”
Halle Berry used to be one of the biggest actresses in the world. Sure, she’s in John Wick 3, but Berry definately not back in her glory days of X-Men, Swordfish, Jungle Fever…POINT IS Halle Berry made a great movie starring herself. Let’s start out with the plot..
Spoilers ahead,
PLOT:
Jackie “Pretty Bull” Justice is an ex, world renowned UFC fighter. Just four years ago she was on top of the world, endorsed by millions of fans across the world. Well, like I said, that was 4 years ago. Now she’s a toilet cleaner with a drinking problem and an abusive boyfriend.
Also, and this pretty much just gets sprung on her, Jackie has a 10 year old son named Manny ( Danny Boyd ), it isn’t clear if he can’t talk or just chooses not to. Anyway, he tends not to say anything for the entire story. Regardless, Jackie takes the boy home and introduces him to her boyfriend, Desi ( Anton Canto ). They love each other, but it’s nothing but toxic and venom fuelling the relationship, Desi hates the boy and after a series of fights Jackie leaves, taking refuge with her estranged Mother.
As bad as things are looking, Jackie gets a new trainer, Bobbi ( Sheila Atim ). Reharnessing her strengths and desperate for money, she strings together a few fights and is invited to a title fight.
Being a boxing-drama, of course everything goes wrong. Seeing the poor conditions that Manny is being held at, Manny is taken away from him. All the while Halle Berry becomes BFFs with Bobbi as the two find out everything that went wrong with each other’s lives.
After the never ending interior struggle that is Jackie’s constantly escalating problems rise, it’s already time for the big fight. Every moment of the film has been crawling up to this
She steps in the ring and the crowd LOVES her. Her opponent immediatly comes off an innerly repulsive and brutal individual. And she fits the part! Jackie takes blow after blow getting mopped around, but also hitting back like the true warrior she is. Eventually…the smoke settles and a winner emerges. Jackie lost the fight, but won the hearts of the audience.
CONCLUSSION:
I think Bruised was meant to be a sort of symbolic retelling of Berr’y career. From winning an Oscar, to for the most part starring in movies nobody’s ever heard of.
Berry has if not to the world or the masses, proven to me that she still has what it takes to give out a great performance, and I’d be honored if a film I wrote starred Halle in it. 8.5/10.
-The Screenwriter
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