Boxing in the movies is far more interesting than the actual sport. In films, there are no lame, one-sided, three-minute knockout fights that fail to live up to the Vegas hype machine. Undisputed doesn't stray far from this rule. It lacks the epic scale of token boxing films like Raging Bull, Rocky, and Ali, but with its hour-and-a-half runtime, Undisputed is a compact display of fights and insights.
The added bonus is that the publicity stunts are exaggerated. Although he's not as visceral as an ear-biting Mike Tyson (clearly his real-life counterpart), James "Iceman" Chambers (Ving Rhames) does his fair share of punching bystanders and cursing the media. Playing short-fused, heavyweight champion Chambers is no challenge for Rhames, who has made his career depicting some real bad dudes (including Marcellus "I'm gonna' get medieval on yo' ass" Wallace in Pulp Fiction).
Sweetwater Prison becomes Chambers' new home after he's convicted of rape, despite his defense: "I ain't no punkass rapist. Look at me. What I gotta' rape somebody for?" Rhames's tough-guy charisma certainly won the audiences over, as evidenced by the (sometimes profane, always supportive) audience commentary.
In jail, however, Chambers has no rightful claim to the title of "champ." Sweetwater already has one: Munroe Hutchen (Wesley Snipes), the undefeated heavyweight of the California Inter-prison Boxing Program. As the name implies, the prisons in the state operate their own league and Munroe comfortably represents Sweetwater with 68 straight wins under his belt.
So here's the scenario: the champ on the outside eats and sleeps under the same roof as the champ on the inside. Take a guess at what happens in the end (hint: it involves two guys and a ring).
Much of the middle portion of the movie is simply devoted to the actual process of arranging the fight. It's not particularly revealing but it's amusing to watch men condemned for life schmooze and network with correctional officers and outside agents to put on their only source of entertainment. Of particular interest is Emmanuel "Mendy" Ripstein (Peter Falk), a cantankerous old boxing promoter who smoothly threatens the stubborn warden that someone on the outside will blow up his car if he doesn't hold the fight.
Of course, all this inside business might come as a disappointment for moviegoers expecting violence with Fight Club-like proportions. Though the film's two boxing matches are much more fun than real life fights, the action lacks some of raw, blood-and-guts power of other boxing movies. The cage that surrounds the prison matches occasionally obscures the movements of the fighters and the power of a punch is measured audibly; the enhanced sound effects only compensate for the lack of visual flair.
Director Walter Hill is more interested in examining the motivations of the boxers. Chambers is usually a self-explanatory presence. Although easily outmatching any other inmate, he doesn't spare the chance to bash the heads of anyone he doesn't like.
In some ways, he's a victim, the man on top who always has something to prove. Aware of the reasons behind his notoriety, he succinctly sums up to the warden, "People love a guy who can fight."
Snipes opposed Miramax's request to allow his character to appear sympathetic. It's a good choice because it doesn't sharply divide Undisputed into a fight between good guy versus bad guy. Although the reasons for his imprisonment reveal themselves as the movie develops, Munroe is a murky character. On one hand, this moral ambiguity enhances the quality of the film. On the other hand, Snipes still gets shafted because he's silenced; he's a good actor and a few more lines would have produced an ending with more impact.
Hall directed Undisputed on a shoestring budget (just below $5 million), which explains the length and the lack of expertly coordinated sparring sequences, but it doesn't matter. A cameo appearance by Ed Lover as the fight announcer hammers home the true nature of the boxing match: "It's about respeck! R-e-s-p-e-c-k! Respeck!"
