The Bronze (Blu-ray) – Movie Review

During the holiday season many Christmas tales (re)surface to spread that typical warm and fuzzy feeling, and while we all know what’s coming, we still watch these movies. Nonetheless, once in a while an atypical story gets sent into the world during this season and we believe The Bronze might just be that story. Even though the movie is still lighthearted and in the ‘feelgood’ genre, a beloved athlete that can’t cope with the fact her career is over, might just be a rather original topic. We weren’t sure what to make of this movie after watching the trailer, but for the most part we ended up being quite surprised.

Bringing home an Olympic medal certainly deserves praise and a certain social status, especially in your hometown, and such is the case for Hope Ann Greggory (Melissa Rauch) who did such a thing, albeit a bronze one. Even though her victory was roughly ten years ago, and she was forced to quit gymnastics afterwards due to an injury, she still acts like a hotshot in town, not only acting like she deserves constant praise, she actually demands free service in a lot of places. Most people tag along and let her do as she wants, as there is simply no other famous person to be found, and Hope was once considered the ‘dream’ for overcoming her first injury and raking in the bronze medal.

Nonetheless, all good things must come an end when her father cuts off her allowance and her stealing habits, forcing her to find a job. Of course, at first she doesn’t do any effort, but when all of a sudden a letter arrives from her ex-trainer, who just committed suicide, claiming she will get half a million dollars for training ‘Mighty’ Maggie (Haley Lu Richardson), who is considered the hope of the future, she decides to go with it. After all, the letter said that Maggie’s outcome would not matter, she just has to train her until the qualifiers, and Hope isn’t ready to lose her celebrity status just yet.

For a comedy, The Bronze never truly feels rushed. The movie takes its time to portray Hope’s character properly, while also setting a proper foundation for the story. Of course, you’ll be treated to some events that are typical for the genre as it sticks to the familiar formula. This means it’s pretty much a standard movie that revolves around a problem but things seem to be heading towards the proper direction, then followed by an even bigger disaster to finally be concluded with a happy ending (of sorts). The Bronze is no exception to that rule, but it tries to make this predetermined road its own original one, with a whole lot of cursing along the way.

As this movie doesn’t really entail too many different characters it has to make sure the cast is rather pleasant to look at, as it would otherwise make the movie unwatchable. Luckily, Melissa Rauch, who is probably known best for her appearance in The Big Bang Theory, plays a spot-on fallen-from-grace diva, who swears, cusses and screams when she can’t have things her way. Her pupil-to-be, portrayed by Haley Lu Richardson, is one of those characters you simply don’t know if she’s annoying, hyperactive or simply adorable, thus we reckon it’s a job well done for her persona.

The special features on the Blu-ray release of The Bronze are rather slim, as you’ll only be treated to some deleted scenes, and the theatrical trailer. Of course, a movie such as this doesn’t really need any bonus content to be funny or interesting, but perhaps a gag reel would have been nice, as it’s easy to assume that a movie such as this would have some funny bloopers to show. Nonetheless, this section isn’t really that important when considering to buy this release.

Conclusion

The Bronze is one of those feelgood movies that come flooding in at the end of the year, a perfect treat for the holidays, but in certain ways this comedy flick tries to be different. While the movie still trots along a very familiar formula in which you can predict most of what will transpire, a few original twists and turns along the way make this a rather enjoyable experience. A surprising ending, a lot of swearing and a few kinky scenes in combination with a few good laughs make this movie worth your while.

ThaMofo

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