Undisputed By Rick Curnutte Richard A. Curnutte, Jr. is the Editor of The Film Journal. He has studied English and Film at Ohio University and The Ohio State University.

Director Walter Hilll (The Warriors) has spent the past decade toiling in virtual anonymity. He's cranked out 6 films in the past 10 years, most of them solid genre efforts, two of them damn fine films. The first, Wild Bill, was marvelous, featuring a stunning turn by Jeff Bridges as the titular cowboy. The second, Undisputed, which was released this year and disappeared as quietly as it came, is a tightly constructed entry into another tried-and-true genre: the prison film.

Ving Rhames stars as Iceman Chambers, the undisputed heavyweight champ, who is sent to prison for raping a woman. Inside he finds himself scorned by those who think he's a chump, not a champ. He also finds out that the prison also has an undisputed champ: convicted murderer Monroe Hutchens (Wesley Snipes).

It turns out that there is a system of illegal prison bouts, ran by a prison guard, funded by an aging Mafioso, Mendy Ripstein (the wonderful Peter Falk). It's obvious from the beginning that these two "undisputed" champions will have to match up by the film's end.

What's great about Hill's approach is the way he plops us right down in the middle of this world. There's not a great deal of exposition. The opening sequence introduces us with title cards to everyone we're going to need to know. His direction is as structured as ever, but here he perhaps has real freedom to do as he pleases. There's really only the one setting. Hill travels through the prison like a living schematic. At times, Hill even utilizes literal blueprints of the prison, overlaying the action, which gives the impression of a clearly mapped out agenda: the beasts must fight...this is their battlefield.

The final fight is brilliantly staged. The boxing is somewhere between that of Raging Bull and the Rocky films. Not quite realistic, not quite phony. Both actors fill out their roles wonderfully, both physically and emotionally. The outcome of the bout is fantastic, but not as fantastic as what comes after. Having been promised a release from prison if he fights, Iceman is soon back in the limelight in the real boxing world, still touted as being undisputed. But inside the prison walls, the real story is told: that the Iceman was defeated by a man with nothing to gain or lose except his reputation. As the prisoners taunt Iceman on the television screen, Monroe sits in his cell, the real undisputed champ.

                                                                 © FILM JOURNAL 2002