Movie: One More Round is a weird little combination of drama and comedy directed by Stephen Sepher. The movie details the life of a middle aged slob, Joseph, who is tired of being out of shape, over weight, and pushed around by the same old jerks we're all familiar with. His grandfather looks at him with disappointed eyes (even refusing to see him when he visits the old age home where gramps stays at), women look at him like he's a mess, and he routinely puts off getting into shape for all the usual reasons; including that his business takes up too much of his time. What sets the plot of the movie in motion is a particular idiot in the form of Paul Brosnan (Owen McKibbin); a salesman acquaintance that likes to strut his physical superiority (and huge insecurities with the ladies) every time he comes to visit Joseph in the office. An amateur boxing competition is coming up in a few months and Paul essentially challenges Joseph to compete. Unlike previous attempts to reestablish his manhood, Joseph takes the opportunity to give it one last shot; enlisting the aid of a trainer who helps him lose about 30 pounds and gain the basic skills necessary to put up an effort in the ring.

The majority of the movie is much like the familiar tale of Rocky in that the preparation for the fighting makes up the lion share of flick; though his erstwhile romance as he gains the self confidence needed to compete outside of the ring plays into matters too. Joseph tells his best friend/confidant Frank (Stephen Sepher; the director of the movie in a small role) how important the fight is to him and sets out to at least try to win the glory he had never attained in his fading youth. His trainer (Jake as played by Adam Guertin) is best suited as a gigolo but also has a dream of running an elite training facility for the rich & famous too; asking Joseph to play along with him as he courts a financier and his main squeeze in a silly subplot that might have worked better as the main story. The bits where his grandfather (seasoned veteran actor Harrison Young) and his poker buddies (all former names in the industry) get together also stole the show as they railed about life and personal matters; albeit, far too briefly.

In the end, the important thing was not whether or not Joseph won the title against all the other opponents, or even if he smacked Paul silly so much as how he rose to the occasion to make the attempt. By getting back into the ring (the metaphor being getting back into life as he courted Madeline; played by Natalie Raitano), he showed that no one would be able to put him down again without a fight rather than simply fading into the background as he had learned over the years to do. In a sense, that is what a lot of people do since the path of least resistance is easier, safer, and far less likely to result in a bloody nose too. The writing of the movie was much like the other technical aspects it displayed; kind of on the weak side but never lacking in the proverbial "heart" that a good boxing movie needs to succeed. The acting was fairly predictable and to be frank about it, writer/lead Roy Jahangard came across as wooden much of the time but the same could be said of many higher profile names too. The rest of the movie, despite the curious (often rewarding) side trips it made with the grandfather and other secondary players, was not bad but you'll soon find that it emulates aspects of other movies to the point where I wondered what a truly original bit of work by those involved with the movie would have looked like too. For me then, the movie warranted a rating of Rent It for the boxing aficionados, as long as they aren't looking for true contenders to the title of "next big boxing flick".

Picture: One More Round was presented in the same 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen color it was shot in by director Stephen Sepher. The colors were faded and the lighting seemed to rely too much on existing light in most of the situations, leaving the picture with a slightly blurred and silk screen effect; the soft focus making me wonder if the Sony HDW-F900 camera used ( a high definition camera that accepts 35mm lenses), was properly set up. Still, the picture did help tell the story fairly well so even the editing issues and other technical aspects were not enough to kill it for me.

Sound: The audio was presented in 2.0 Dolby Digital English using a 224 Kbps bitrate for those who care. The vocals were a mixed bag with some sounding like a retake was needed and others sounding perfectly fine. The music was minimal and the score appropriate to the settings, the biggest problem being the way Roy delivered his own lines as though reading them from a script cold for the first time. Indie movies aren't known for high end sonic qualities so you won't be surprised by this one either but it didn't actively detract from the themes either.

Extras: The only extras were some short cast and crew interviews (too short to really contain any tidbits worth watching) and a trailer for the movie.

Final Thoughts: One More Round might not have been the "hilarious, heartwarming and life-affirming journey" advertised on the back cover but it was a cute version of so many boxing movies of the recent past that did hit home on several levels given the context of the material that it was worth watching when all the new, better flicks were checked out at the local Blockbuster. If you've hit the middle age crisis area of your life, you might even find One More Round as a movie you can identify with better than the high gloss productions of Hollywood, despite the technical limitations and low budget nature of the release. It was cute, contained some personality missing in bigger movies, and might be enough to make you smile a few times; perhaps even satisfying your own need to find motivation in a movie that serves up a more believable version of a guy trying to beat the odds well past his prime.