This time I have an indie review of a British movie, Salvable. It has a good cast: Toby Kebbell, Shia LeBeouf, James Cosmo, Michael Socha, Elaine Cassidy, Aiysha Hart, and Barry Ward.
Bjorn Franklin writes and co-directs with Johnny Marchetta. Both new names to me, but known for a few shorts and music videos.
The Story
The story for Salvable is:
An aging boxer struggles to escape the grasp of a small town while battling a fractured relationship with his teenage daughter.
It’s nothing new, but engaging enough. Sol (Kebbell) isn’t a boxer anymore; he’s a punching bag. He’s days of glory are over, and he does what he can to make a living. He works at a care home, but now and then gets into boxing matches to make a few more quid. The matches are all legal, but when he loses his job at the care home, he has to double down.
Sadly, doubling down means getting involved with Vince (LeBouf), who’s been away in jail at his Majesty’s pleasure. Meeting up with Vince provides more opportunities for illegal fighting, but also a lot more problems.
I won’t spoil the rest of the story, but it’s not a Disney movie, showing singing animals and bright, happy songs.
The Cast
Sol is played by Toby Kebbell. I don’t know why, but the first thing I think of him starring is playing Koba in the Planet of the Apes movies. He was in the last two of those movies and is really good. However, he is also very CG’ed.
Looking at his IMDb profile, he has been in a lot of movies I know: Dead Man’s Shoes, Alexander, RocknRolla, War Horse, Fantastic Four (2015), Kong: Skull Island. He’s one of those underrated actors you know the face of.
In Salvable, his Sol is the total opposite of Planet of the Apes, and completely real. You know a Sol, you’ve met one. Life has beaten him every day, but he keeps on fighting, mainly for his daughter. Even though, as a teenager, she hates him, he still wants to win her over.
He carries the movie really well, and you are really with him, through every punch and heartbreak.
The odd one for Salvable is LeBeouf, who plays an Irishman. 9 times out of 10 when an American tries any accent, it’s never very good. The 1 out of 10 is someone like Brad Pitt in Snatch, where his accent is perfect. LeBeouf does a good job in Salvable. I say good, there are times when the accent slips, but fair play to him for trying it. Again, his character is a strong one, that kind of friend you know, but would like to avoid most of the time. He’s dodgy as hell, but he’s a mate.
Gritty
I hate it when people use the word gritty, but there’s no other word for Salvable. This isn’t some greenscreen fest, where everything is clean and perfect. I couldn’t say which city it’s set in, but it’s set in the slums of that city. The entire movie smells bad, as in I could smell how sweaty Kebbell was in it.
It was nice to see a movie like this, because everything these days is so clean-cut. Salvable is in a setting I don’t want to live in. I used to live in a city, and there are nice places (like where I used to live) and not-so-nice places that I would never want to visit. I’m not a snob, I just like my kneecaps where they are.
Overall
Salvable isn’t anything new, but it’s a refreshing change from the clean, polished movies of Hollywood. I would rather watch this than the new Superman, to be honest. I know I’ve moaned about Superman, but I’m getting bored with superhero movies; they all have over-the-top photography, with lens flare and camera flying around someone’s head.
Now and then, watching something like Salvable, is more grounded, gritty, and ‘real’. It’s not a movie I would return to, as it’s not a comfortable watch. It is a good movie, though. I’m giving Salvable a solid 3 out of 5 stars.
The movie will be on VoD on the 14th of July.
