a5c7b9f00b James Deacon, Jr., the deaf son of a once-promising boxer whose life was wrecked by drugs and alcohol, has struggled for years to escape his father's shameful legacy and find normalcy with a family of his own. Grudgingly leveraging the boxing skills he inherited from his father, he takes on whatever bouts he can find to support his pregnant wife. A tragedy leaves him alone to raise his newborn son. Guilt-ridden, he vows never to fight again and abandons the life that brought him so much pain. When he crosses paths with a trainer and former rival of his father, James faces an agonizing decision to run from his past or step back into the ring and become the champion his father never was. Solid film with professional direction, an intelligent script and terrific performances throughout, particularly that of Lawrence Gilliard Jr., perhaps best known for his reoccurring roles in The Walking Dead and The Wire. The story revolves around a deaf man (Harold Perrineau) pressured by a desperate, alcoholic, down-on-his-luck trainer (Gilliard, Jr.) to choose between continuing with his current life of barely subsistence living, or returning to boxing, a sport for which he has shown talent, but also one that has contributed greatly toward bringing pain and tragedy to his life. Perhaps the best exchange of dialogue between the two men is this: Deaf Man (angrily): You're USING me! Trainer: Yes, I'm using you. And I want you to USE me!
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