bombersflyup The Set-Up is a fairly lackluster and uneventful boxing flick. This would have to be the shortest film I've ever seen, plus around two thirds of the film were spent in the ring, which is quite odd. Basically Stoker's corner makes a deal to throw the fight without telling Stoker, he wins the fight and his corner flees and Stoker cops the brunt for it. That premise is a worthy premise for a film, but it is all too short and poorly executed, the main character barely has dialogue. I don't know what I'm suppose to get out of this? Stoker: Yeah, top spot. And I'm just one punch away. Julie: I remember the first time you told me that. You were just one punch away from the title shot then. Don't you see, Bill, you'll always be just one punch away.

bobbie-16 I was completely stunned by this movie (which I had never even heard of before last night)--it should be near the top of everyone's list of the best movies of all times.I am tagging my review as a spoiler not for a plot element, but because I want to mention that it unfolds in real time: the 71 minutes of the movie corresponds exactly to 71 continuous minutes of action in the story, and this gives the movie much of its amazing intensity. I did not realize this until the end--that's why drawing attention to it is somewhat a spoiler.Robert Ryan is marvelous as Stoker, a boxer nearing the end of his career; Ryan boxed at Dartmouth and in the Marines and he is wonderful in the part. When he smiles his face lights up the screen. The actors in the smaller parts are outstanding and fun to watch--Stoker's tiny cut man with a marvelously expressive face, his opponent Tiger Nelson, the characters in the audience, and the boxers in the dressing room--every little portrait is a gem. The fight choreography is remarkable and so convincing, and the night photography of "Paradise City" is suitably lively and tawdry, but also beautiful in the way that only black and white cinematography can be, especially in the scene on the viaduct. (Little bit of trivia: The dance hall is named "The Coral Sea" which to the 1949 viewer called up a decisive battle between Japan and the US--the world's first air/sea encounter--a note of grim irony.) This movie made me wish that most movies were kept to 70 minutes--this intense pace makes contemporary movies seem boring, tedious and self-indulgent by comparison.

Dalbert Pringle If you, like me, enjoy a real rock'em/sock'em boxing film with realism so brutal and gritty that it plays out like a slice of Film Noir, then The Set-Up (from 1949) is your ringside seat to 4 hard-hitting rounds of pulverizing action, non-stop.Filmed in its entirety on an indoor set that represented a grubby, downtown section of the fictional Paradise City, The Set-Up is an overlooked gem that is truly rough, mean and rugged filmmaking at one of its finest hours.Washed-up boxer, "Stoker" Thompson, who, at 35, still believes that he can lick his opponent (this time it being the 23 year-old pug, "Tiger" Nelson), is unknowingly set-up by his unethical manager to take a dive, which, in turn, will profit ruthless gangster, Little Boy, who's got some big bucks riding on "Tiger" to win the match.During 4 grueling rounds of sweaty, face-smashing, gut-punching action, Stoker (and his amazing ability to endure "Tiger" Nelson's lightning-fast wallops) earns the unanimous vocal support of the blood-thirsty spectators who at first had venomously rooted against him.Filmed in stark b&w, The Set-Up has a running time of only 72 minutes.This unsparing story and its savage look at the delusional dreams of one palooka's world of boxing, was directed by Robert Wise who went on to filmmaking greatness with such classic motion pictures as The Day The Earth Stood Still, West Side Story and The Andromeda Strain.

chaos-rampant A boxer who's past his prime but still dreams that he's only a punch from greatness. A girlfriend who's seen him take one beating too many. And a fight set-up in advance but no one's told him because he's going to lose, right? This still packs a punch. It has a usual grit, but also inner flow. As he waits in the lockerroom for his fight, other boxers get ready; one reminds him of his green, younger self, another of some washed- up future ahead, yet another gives him spiritual courage. We have all this visually, thrown from soul in the air. We're away from some big championship match. The atmosphere of the suburban boxing hall reminded me of another film I love about boxing and failure, Fat City. It doesn't matter if it's a noir. It's a small film but intimate, all about past and future lives mixed together. And it has a pretty perfect spatiality, an editor's understanding of cinematic space, Wise's original craft; Ryan from the basement can look up at their apartment and see if the lights are on or off, the promise of love.Ryan is typically intense but brings a humored and weary detachment, the guy is one of my favorite actors of the time. He brings real boxing experience to the fight that takes up the middle portion of the film, and still is pretty mean.Noir Meter: 1/4