E. Paul Edwards’ directorial debut, Fighting Words,
begins with these words: “Here’s a recipe for poetry: begin with a healthy
portion of heartache — thick and juicy. Add a pinch of death, a dash of
despair. Allow to rise.”
all other manner of specters of negativity hover like unseen characters just
out of frame. A loquacious recasting of the underdog Rocky tale set
against a fresh, contemporary backdrop, Fighting Words is about one
man’s quest to locate the requisite courage and discipline to match his
passion. He has a foil, yes, but it’s also a story about a young man’s battle
with himself.
 is, when we first see him, unable to<br />
foresee a world in which his innate aptitude ever translates to an audience<br />
beyond a few drunken barstool pigeons. The film centers around Jake’s<br />
burgeoning professional and personal relationship with admiring associate<br />
publisher Marni Elliot (Tara D’Agostino, above right), who harbors a painful personal<br />
secret, and eventually his competition against successful freestyle poet David<br />
Settles (C. Thomas Howell) in the highly lucrative Los Angeles Poetron, a<br />
tournament-style gathering of spoken-word poets.<o:p></p>
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The success of Fighting Words lies in its
savvy blend of the familiar and novel. The underlying love story is almost
primal and subliminal; Jake and Marni’s star-crossed fate isn’t one of feuding
families but rather their own hang-ups and the nasty reality of the 21st
century sexual landscape.
tableaux of twentysomething anxiety and uncertainty. After the sudden cultural
ascendance and almost as quick withdrawal of the beats, poetry for an entire
generation, maybe more, basically returned to the shadows. It was a form of
expression ceded to rock ’n’ roll lyrics.
In the 1990s, though, the
first-person narratives born of rap music fused with raw, emotional new wave
literature in an exciting and innovative way, and a bastard child was born —
slam poetry.
braggadocio, spoken word open mike nights and contests sprung up in college
campuses and large urban centers around the country. Poetry was no longer the
weak, thin-armed younger brother of the artistic world, it was a loud, proud,
ready-to-rumble primetime player.
Brimming with the same passion for wordplay,
expression and connectivity that its characters display, Fighting Words
features fine work from big screen newcomers Stearns and D’Agostino, and boasts
supporting performances from a diverse cast that includes Fred Willard, Fred
Williamson, Michael Parks and Edward Laurence Albert. Housed in a regular Amray case, the film — which played in competition at Method Fest 2006 — is also available on DVD in a 1.85 flat aspect ratio, with a Dolby surround sound audio track. To purchase the film via Amazon, click here. (Indican Pictures, R, 89 mins.)