Set in Cork, Ireland, STRENGTH AND HONOR is a boxing drama with heart. The film stars Michael Madsen as Sean, a young boxer who accidentally causes the death of his friend with a punch that proves fatal. Seven years later, Sean's wife dies of a hereditary heart condition, and he promises his... [More]

Set in Cork, Ireland, STRENGTH AND HONOR is a boxing drama with heart. The film stars Michael Madsen as Sean, a young boxer who accidentally causes the death of his friend with a punch that proves fatal. Seven years later, Sean's wife dies of a hereditary heart condition, and he promises his dying wife that he will not box again. But when their young son (Luke Whelton) starts showing sings of the same illness, a widowed Sean finds himself in a moral dilemma as well as in debt. With hospital bills piling up and insurance companies screwing him over, Sean must give up his home and move with his son to a trailer park. It's there that Sean is faced once more with the appeals of boxing. Forced to choose between staying true to his word and boxing to pay for the costly operation that could save his son's life, Sean puts all his anxiety into the ring, risking his own life in a fierce underground bare-knuckles boxing battle against the Smasher (Vinnie Jones). Mike Mahon's directorial debut offers a glimpse of Irish culture and some beautifully photographed landscapes. Overall, the film moves slowly, its solemn pace only broken up in parts by intense action and violence. Madsen skillfully pulls off his role as an unlikely boxer forced to risk it all. [Less]