Orthodox Stance, Jason Hutt’s documentary about Dmitriy Salita, the professional boxer and observant Jew from Brooklyn, does not want to just be a gefilte fish-out-of-water story, but unfortunately, it offers little else. Hutt sets out to document how Salita navigates the seemingly incompatible worlds of professional boxing and Orthodox Judaism, but by the time he begins filming in 2002, the boxing world already had spun Salita’s faith into a lucrative promotional opportunity.
Still, some colorful interviews with Salita’s rabbis and trainers show the sometimes dissonant lessons he receives in the two worlds he inhabits. Unfortunately, Salita only really opens up to Hutt about his love for boxing and his hopes for financial success.
It’s hard to fault Hutt for missing the most compelling years of Salita’s story, but with most of his cultural reconciliation behind him, most of what gets captured on film are ordinary scenes of a talented fighter working his way to a title bout–even if he’s alternately wrapping his hands with boxing tape and tefillin.
God, this looks awful! Didn’t the Jazz Singer come out, like, 30 years ago?!
What happened to Eminem playing him in a biopic?
the movie is much more subtle than what has been suggested and much more sophisticated than just a boxing movie. It is an honest look at how community and body play out in a sport where it just seems like a man in a ring. Hutt doesn’t beat the viewers
The fact that Hutt “doesn’t beat the viewers over the head with moralisms….” Geez, not the greatest rationale for paying $10 for a ticket. As for Salita struggling with Orthodox Jews who want him to give up boxing, no you’re right: it is hard to find s
Salita’s culture clash does make for an interesting story, yet he barely discusses it as anything more than a marketing angle. Generally, I don’t think it’s fair to demand any more from athletes than their physical talent, but if you’re going to make an
Hollywood– no one said that the fact that Hutt doesn’t laden us with moralisms is “the only reason” to go see the film (read more than the first sentence). It is a well-crafted piece about amateur boxing and about class and religion in America, among ot
I have a question for you, Lax. Did you direct or produce this movie?
lol. no. i guess my exuberance would suggest something like that, but no. i just liked it. you should hear me rave about Donny Darko. (or not, if you are Hollywood, I am sure.)
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