Girlfight

Girlfight is a 2000 drama film starring Michelle Rodriguez. It focuses on Diana Guzman, a troubled teen who decides to channel her aggression by training to become a boxer, despite the skepticism of both her abusive father and the prospective trainers in the male-dominated sport. Girlfight was the debut film of writer/director Karyn Kusama, as well as Rodriguez' breakout role.
The movie won the Director's Award the Grand Jury Prize (tied with Kenneth Lonergan's You Can Count on Me) at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. It also won the Award of the Youth at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. Rodriguez also accumulated numerous awards and nominations, including major acting accolades from the National Board of Review, Deauville Film Festival, Independent Spirit Awards, Gotham Awards, Las Vegas Film Critics Sierra Awards, and many others.




Cast


Michelle Rodriguez as Diana Guzman
Jaime Tirelli as Hector Soto
Paul Calderón as Sandro Guzman
Santiago Douglas as Adrian Sturges
Ray Santiago as Tiny Guzman
Victor Sierra as Ray Cortez
Elisa Bocanegra as Marisol
Shannon Walker Williams as Veronica
Louis Guss as Don
Herb Lovelle as Cal
Thomas Barbour as Ira




Reception


Reelviews.net gave the film three and a half stars out of four stating, "From first-time director Karyn Kusama, Girlfight is a well crafted and emotionally satisfying debut."
David Denby of The New Yorker said:
“ This small independent movie is an attempt at roughhouse feminist populism. As a director, Kusama blocks everything out too cleanly, making one point at a time rather than weaving the elements of the atmosphere together. At the end, the movie turns into a fairy tale as Diana falls for a beautiful young male boxer (Santiago Douglas) who adores her and her right hook, too. In a mortifyingly stupid scene, they are forced to fight each other in the ring. The movie may be naïve and underdone, but it has a new, live subject and, in Rodriguez, a powerhouse star who could go a long way.