Miles Teller Makes the Rounds in Bleed for This

Sports movies tend to follow a fairly fixed pattern: the hero is hungry for success but faces a defeat, and then there’s a training montage followed by a glorious victory.

Bleed For This doesn’t depart drastically from this format, but somehow still manages to feel different. Credit for this goes to director Ben Younger, who chooses to tell its story simply and allow the considerable talent and charm of star Miles Teller (pictured) to do their work. Teller comes off as utterly likable as the man he portrays, a boxer named Vinnie, whose promising career was interrupted by a car accident that broke his neck. Aaron Eckhart — sporting a gut and a very high hairline — is also winning as Vinnie’s trainer; so are Katey Sagal and Ciarán Hinds as his parents. THE WORD: The nature of Vinnie’s injury may sound grim, but the film is far from it; it’s got the charisma to win audiences over and a come-back story that’s a knockout. WHERE TO WATCH: In Theaters

BLEED FOR THIS trailer from Verdi Productions on Vimeo.