In my recent post of 2013's Whitewash, I mentioned it was Thomas Haden Church's last significant performance in a feature which I would now like to retract. In my research I somehow overlooked this skid-row saga, an indie from Knate Lee. Church plays a gentle but broken homeless man who is coerced by a punk preppie into fighting other down-and-outs for money on video. During this same time period, he finds salvation in a girl's diary lost in a trash can. Because of this, Cardboard Boxer becomes much more of a character study piece than a crime saga and Church fills these shoes quite admirably. It may not have the pedigree of 1966's The Swimmer but I was reminded of that film several times in Church's performance.
The always enjoyable Terrance Howard plays a Yellow Cab driver who watches over the bums and brings them blankets and whatnot, he's a father and an angel figure to them. In typical Terrance Howard fashion though, he's packing and not to be messed with, cab driver or not. When he finds out what's going on, let's just say he's not too pleased.
I definitely think this one deserves more exposure and attention than it seems to have received. Good news, it's on just about every free platform out there, take your pick. 2.75 stars/2.75
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