Split Decisions

1988

Action / Drama / Sport

6
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 24% · 3 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 24% · 500 ratings
IMDb Rating 5.3/10 10 1255 1.3K

boxer conflict boxing

Plot summary

When a boxer is killed because he wouldn't take a dive, his brother tries to find a way to avenge him even if only symbolically.

Director

David Drury Photo
David Drury

Top cast

Carmine Caridi Photo
Carmine Caridi as Lou Rubia
John McLiam Photo
John McLiam as Pop McGuinn
Pete Antico Photo
Pete Antico as Sparring Partner #1
Gene Hackman Photo
Gene Hackman as Dan McGuinn
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
879.04 MB
1280*714
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 35 min
Seeds ...
1.59 GB
1920*1072
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 35 min
Seeds 1

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Coventry 4 / 10

Gene Hackman tribute month #5: Stubborn Irish father/boxing coach

On February 18th of 2025, the mighty actor Gene Hackman passed away. I have a tradition to pay tribute to a deceased cinema deity by watching/reviewing one or two of their lesser known (but hopefully worthwhile) movies. For Gene Hackman, however, I want to expand the tribute. He was such an indescribably brilliant and versatile actor. Since he's listed in my top 5 of greatest performers of ALL times, he deserves a full month of homage. Rest in peace, Mr. Hackman, and thanks for the many great movies.Speaking of lesser known, this might be Hackman's most obscure effort. Together with one or two other titles on his resume, it was the only title I never heard of before. Understandably so, because "Split Decisions" is a mundane and unremarkable sports drama/thriller, and Gene Hackman is obviously TOO good in comparison with the script, the production values, and the rest of the cast. He stars as the old-fashioned and stubborn Irish coach in New York, and father of two multi-talented boxers. He has a difficult relationship with the oldest, Ray, because he chose for professional boxing and does fights for dubious promotors. He focuses on his youngest son Eddie instead, because he combines boxing with studying and aims to partake in the Olympics. When Ray is put under pressure to lose a prestigious fight, he refuses and gets murdered. Eddie wants to take over the fight against the notorious Latino boxer Pedroza, but then he needs his father's coaching help."Split Decisions" is hopelessly clichéd, predictable, ineffectively sentimental, and quite frankly rather boring. Everything looks cheap and rushed, especially the editing and the available filming locations, and there isn't a single story "twist" you can't predict. There are several known names in the cast (Jennifer Beals, Craig Sheffer, James Tolkan, Jeff Fahay, ...) but they all stand in the shadow of Gene Hackman (and he's not even giving his best).
Reviewed by drjgardner 4 / 10

Pretty poor

It's hard to believe they actually made this film. What were they thinking? Better yet, what were Gene Hackman, Jeff Fahey, and Jennifer Beals thinking? They do a decent job in the acting area but the plot is so stale it looks like a fight film from the 40s. And the fight scenes are so staged it looks an amateur film. I mean, after "Rocky" we are all used to some pretty good fight scenes where it looks like the guy is actually being hit.If you like fight films there are two good Rocky films, especially the first which I thought was excellent. As they continued to make them they ultimately devalued the original, but at the time I thought it was brilliant. Now that it is a cliché it's hard to remember how powerful the original was. In addition to Rocky I liked "The Fighter" (2010), "Warrior" (2011), "Fight Club" (1999), "Raging Bull" (1980), "Cinderella Man" (2005), "Champion" (1949), and "The Set-up" (1949). Of course I've left out the Kung Fu genre.
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