Bleed for This
Open Road Films (II) | Release Date: November 18, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
14
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperNov 17, 2016
Miles Teller gives the performance of his career as the indefatigable Vinny “The Pazmanian Devil” Pazienza, and writer-director Ben Younger delivers one of the best boxing movies of the decade in Bleed for This. Read full review
80
EmpireDan JolinNov 28, 2016
It may be predictable, but Bleed For This still grabs with its astonishing against-all-odds true story, and its belter of a central performance from Miles Teller. Read full review
80
The New York TimesGlenn KennyNov 17, 2016
With their scrupulous but unobtrusive attention to pertinent details, Mr. Younger, Mr. Teller and the rest of the cast make Bleed for This more than an inspiring version of Mr. Pazienza’s story; they make it a genuinely interesting one. Read full review
80
We Got This CoveredMatt DonatoSep 19, 2016
This is a boxing drama that scrappily battles for its recognition, determined to win you over at any cost. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 3, 2016
Teller is terrific, which should come as no surprise to “Whiplash” fans, though no less significant, the film represents a significant return for writer-director Ben Younger. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerNov 17, 2016
The soundtrack is effective and overt – from the badass rock blare of Billy Squire, Bad Company and AC/DC to the atmosphere compositions of the indie musician Julia Holter to the riveting nu-blues of Willis Earl Beal. The camera work is slick, too; tricky sound-editing notions are pulled off with aplomb. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoNov 17, 2016
Teller’s work is the film’s soul, and he completely convinces us of Vinny’s affability, flaws and steely determination. The performance has intelligent touches, some of them comic — such as the hint that Vinny’s rehab battle is heroic but also a bit goofy. It’s the kind of thing that first-rate actors can pull off. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsNov 17, 2016
Don't expect miracles. Not every biopic needs to reinvent the form. Sometimes it's enough to inhabit it, engagingly. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrNov 17, 2016
Teller is cornering a market on recklessness in the roles he chooses -- the energy from that demonic drum solo at the end of “Whiplash” seems to carry over into the ferocity with which Vinny pounds at life. He’s not very smart, he’s kind of a jerk, but he never, ever stops, and Bleed for This earns your respect for him. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedNov 2, 2016
Nothing much revelatory here, but what makes the movie a keeper is the energy of director Ben Younger (Boiler Room) and the charisma of Miles Teller, the sensational young actor from "Whiplash," who invests the role of a prizefighter with the same intensity he brought to the role of an obsessively driven drummer in that film. Read full review
70
Screen DailyWendy IdeOct 7, 2016
Rather than bring anything new to the genre, director Ben Younger settles for adding a distinctive bracing energy to the somewhat timeworn tropes. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthySep 4, 2016
Bleed for This is a gritty, pungently Rhode Island working class-set boxing drama that connects with most of its punches. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Nov 16, 2016
Bleed For This looks at Vinny Paz and sees only unshakable determination, and though there’s a certain queasy, even darkly comic thrill to seeing the man (courageously? foolishly?) bench press his injuries away, Teller can’t make much of a character out of nothing but raw conviction and a spectacularly crappy mustache. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyNov 16, 2016
With the exception of maybe two scenes, you’ve seen everything in this movie before. Read full review
67
The Film StageJared MobarakSep 18, 2016
You won’t get the gravitas of Rocky, Raging Bull, or Creed, but you will get a character worthy of immortalization thanks to spirit and shenanigans. Read full review
67
The PlaylistChris WillmanSep 4, 2016
Paz’s story is obviously a feel-good one, which somewhat hamstrings a writer-director who you can feel chafing against the constraints of fidelity to sheer uplift. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversNov 21, 2016
Younger jacks up the action in the last third, but the air goes out of a fight movie when you can see the next jab coming. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzNov 17, 2016
The problem, though, is that we never get enough sense of Paz's interior life to judge this movie as anything other than a comeback story about a nice guy who got knocked out by the cosmos and hauled himself up. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreNov 15, 2016
Teller, who takes us from grins to grimaces with skill, and Eckhart, given his best role in years and his most likable performance ever, make Bleed for This worth the pain. Read full review
60
Total FilmJamie GrahamDec 20, 2016
Bleed for This is made with palpable commitment by all involved and there are scenes to jolt viewers out of their déjà vu. Read full review
60
CineVueMatthew AndersonDec 7, 2016
[Miles Teller] does dogged, unerring determination very well and makes Younger's film an engaging rollercoaster ride. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyDec 7, 2016
Middleweight, non-intelligence-insulting fare right to the core, Bleed For This keeps you squarely in your seat, but barely once excites you enough to leap up out of it. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzNov 17, 2016
Yes, it’s a boxing comeback story. But the car accident makes it different, and Teller and Eckhart make it better than it ought to be. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsStephen Whitty Nov 16, 2016
The movie's no knockout, but at least it gives us one good performance, and one great one. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonTom HuddlestonSep 14, 2016
Overall, Bleed For This is difficult to dislike: the story may be hokey but it’s real, and so is the sentiment behind it. Read full review
55
TheWrapClaudia PuigNov 17, 2016
The boxing drama Bleed for This has a powerful story and a strong lead performance in its corner, but falls short of knockout status. Hampered by clichéd writing and stereotypical portrayals, this extraordinary true-life account feels run-of-the-mill. Read full review
50
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenNov 17, 2016
In the central role, Miles Teller is impressively bulked up, but there’s a flatness in his performance. It’s a dogged, rather than an inspired, portrayal. The best work is done by Aaron Eckhart, who plays Vinnie’s trainer, Kevin Rooney. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephanie MerryNov 17, 2016
The halfhearted attempt to tweak the boxing-movie formula is a diversionary tactic. No amount of feints will change one fact: Bleed for This has no new moves. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenNov 16, 2016
Despite its narrative familiarity, the film is suffused with such contagious enthusiasm, distinctive performances, and local color that it stands out nevertheless. Read full review
50
ConsequenceMichael RoffmanNov 15, 2016
Despite Pazienza’s own pitfalls and perils, the film never registers as anything more than a boilerplate boxing drama, which is a shame because the material is all there, it’s just hamstrung by a flimsy screenplay that refuses to let its characters exist on their own. Read full review
50
IndieWireDavid EhrlichSep 4, 2016
Every original drop of Bleed for This is lost in a sea of cliché and convention, and Younger seems totally incapable of separating the singular verve of his protagonist from the hackneyed arc of his defining ordeal. Read full review
40
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottNov 17, 2016
Along the way, Bleed for This rarely, if ever, surprises. Younger -- working from a script he wrote -- never feints, never dodges, never does anything unexpected. Consequently, his film never delivers anything resembling a knockout blow. Read full review
40
The GuardianHenry BarnesSep 4, 2016
For all its smashed open cuts and swollen eye sockets, Younger’s film remains an oddly sterile experience. For a biopic, it is remarkably featureless. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineKenji FujishimaNov 14, 2016
Any initial gestures toward acknowledging Vinny Paz's macho egotism are eventually downplayed as the film becomes just another formulaic triumph-over-adversity saga. Read full review
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