Tim Blake Nelson | |
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 Tim Blake Nelson Nelson at the 2016 Fantastic Fest | |
| Born | Timothy Blake Nelson May 11, 1964 Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Education | Brown University (BA) Juilliard School (GrDip) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1989–present |
| Spouse | Lisa Benavides (m. 1994) |
| Children | 3 |
Tim Blake Nelson is the kind of excellent character actor around whom an indie film can be built, and Vincent Gashaw (“What Josiah Saw,” 2021) has done exactly that. Nelson is a Brown University graduate who has also studied at Julliard. I met him in 2019 in Chicago, where he appeared in support of “Just Mercy” in which he played Ralph Myers. His short stature ( 5’ 5”) marks him as someone who would make a great Lee Harvey Oswald in any future bio-pics dealing with the JFK assassination. His roles include Delmar O’Donnell in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), Gideon in Minority Report (2002), Danny Dalton Jr. in Syriana (2005), Samuel Sterns in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Richard Schell in Lincoln (2012), the titular character of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018) and Henry McCarty in Old Henry (2021).. His involvement in this film sold me on checking it out at the Nashville Film Festival, where it screened on September 20, 2024.
THE PLOT
In “Bang Bang” Nelson portrays a down-on-his-luck former boxing champion (Featherweight Champion) out of Detroit, Michigan, whose brother Bobby also fought. Bernard “Bang Bang” Rozyski and brother Bobby fought “so we wouldn’t catch a beating from our father.” Bang Bang is now many years past his fighting prime and living in a run-down house. He is still remembered in the old neighborhood as “the Pride of Poland.” Nelson even speaks a little Polish to the locals on the streets of his former neighborhood.
Bang Bang harbors a great deal of ill will towards his arch enemy, a Black boxer, Darnell Washington (Glenn Plummer, “Strange Days,” 1995), who is now running for Mayor of Detroit. As the story unfolds, courtesy of writer Will Janowitz (who also played Dylan in the film), we learn that Robinson was the fighter who battered Bernard’s brother Bobby into a nursing home. Washington was booked for a return fight against Bang Bang just 4 months after Washington had beaten his brother half to death. The outcome of that fight has haunted Bernard ever since. He has blamed all of his bad luck in life on Washington, whether justified or not. There is a classic showdown meeting between the two that takes place in Washington’s home.
The film opens with Bang Bang in a wheelchair and actually considering shooting Washington as the candidate is giving a campaign speech at a local church. The wheelchair is something that Bang Bang only needs at times, if at all. The other set of wheels that is highlighted in the film belong to a vintage gold TransAm that the fighter says he was gifted by local Detroit singing legend Bob Seger of the Silver Bullet Band (“Old Time Rock and Roll”). When Bernard’s daughter, Jen (Nina Arianda, “Midnight in Paris,” 2011) takes a new job in Chicago, she asks Bang Bang to temporarily watch over her teen-aged son Justin while she is getting established in the new city. By “watching over” she does not mean starting him on a path of training as a boxer, but that is the direction the action takes. It does not end well for Justin, his grandson (Andrew Liner, “Gray Matter”), his daughter, or him.
THE GOOD
The script was well-written and the fighting scenes—especially the climactic one at Washington’s house—are well done. The acting is good from one and all. Erica Gimpel portrays a cancer-stricken love from Bang Bang’s past. It was nice to see an actress portray a beautiful woman fighting cancer, mastectomy and all, who actually looks to be the right age to be Bang Bang’s girlfriend. Kevin Corrigan portrays Bang Bang’s best friend John Eaton, an alcoholic trainer who owns a small gym. He is also good in his part.
The sets, especially the mansion that Bang Bang revisits which he once owned and the gorgeous mansion in which Darnell Washington now resides are great set finds. Detroit is a character, itself. There are lines like, “This city may be down, but it most certainly is not out.”
The fight scenes were well choreographed and added vastly to the production.
THE BAD
Bang Bang is portrayed as so universally negative and depressed that it’s hard to root for him and relate to him in the light of his days of former glory. That’s the way the part is written. The entire movie turns out to be an anti-boxing polemic that is dedicated to all boxers of the past, present and future. Much blame for the brutality and corruption of the sport is laid at the feet of journalists who glorified boxing in print.
Bang Bang was released on June 11, 2024. It was entertaining, although the lead character’s failure to take any responsibility for his downfall makes him a hard hero to root for. “Rocky” this is not. It’s a grim look at the reality of the boxing game, as seen through the prism of one man’s shattered and battered life.