Never Back Down: Movie Review (2008)

Directed by Jeff Wadlow, written by Chris Hauty, 113 minutes, rated PG-13.

Given the rush of recent gems that have tumbled from the heavens of Hollywood lately, you’d swear the holidays were upon us again. Lot’s of little movie gifts everywhere. Who wouldn’t be satisfied by the product pouring into cineplexes?

A glance back reveals such noteworthy efforts as “Step Up 2 the Streets,” “College Road Trip,” “10,000 B.C.,” “Doomsday,” “Semi-Pro,” “Fool’s Gold” and “Jumper.”

And now, Hollywood has come through again, this time with the genius that is Jeff Wadlow’s “Never Back Down.” Essentially, the movie is about pretty boys posing, preening and pummeling each other until they knock themselves senseless. Oh, and it’s also about fetishizing their abs, not that anyone here would admit it.

Based on Chris Hauty’s script, the film is a cross between “Fight Club” and “The Karate Kid,” though without the latter’s A-list cast. Yes, that’s right, its A-list cast. When compared to the D-listers assembled in “Back Down,” Pat Morita and Ralph Macchio are so A-list, it hurts.

The film follows Sean Faris as Jake Tyler, who years ago didn’t take the wheel for his drunk dad and who now blames himself for the car wreck that took the man’s life while he was half in the bag.

Filled with rage but essentially good at heart, Jake is a squinty-eyed scrapper, so incapable of dealing with his guilt, that his eyes burn at the idea of a fight when the opportunity presents itself. His tough-love mother (Leslie Hope) is at a loss with how to handle him--she just throws dinnerware as if can afford to do so, which she can’t--but his younger brother, Charlie (Wyatt Smith), still looks up to him, which Jake understands is a responsibility, not that he initially cares much.

When the Tyler family leaves Iowa for Florida, where Charlie is to study to become a tennis pro, Jake finds two outlets for his rage. The first is in Ryan McCarthy (Cam Gigandet), a high school sociopath who enjoys beating the living hell out of people. Since Jake has come to Florida with a bad reputation (apparently, his previous fights have gone viral over the Internet), he’s no exception--Ryan wants a piece of him. So does a saucy minx named Baja (Amber Heard), who is Ryan’s reluctant girlfriend, sure, but who’d rather be swapping blows with Jake.

The second outlet for Jake’s rage is at a gym called Combat Club, which is owned by the secretive Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou). There, Tyler learns how to fight, but under the strict condition that he never use his newfound skills at a public fighting event.

So, what are the odds that he does just that? And could it be that Roqua ejects him from the gym when he finds out? And what of Baja, who might not be the sweet piece of hard candy she initially seems to be? Is she really in it to win it with Jake, who predictably comes to fight Ryan in the film’s feverish denouement?

If you don’t know and still are intrigued, “Never Back Down” is for you.

Grade: D