Bruised really hurts

Halle Berry makes her directorial debut in the Netflix film Bruised. In the film Halle stars as former MMA fighter Jackie "Pretty Bull" Justice. She gives up her career after a disgraceful loss. She tries to find redemption by getting back in the cage and fighting again after her mother shows up with a son that she had left behind.

As a director and actress in the film I feel like Halle did what Halle does and performs. The problem was that maybe she should have picked a better film to perform with.

The film just kept hitting us with cliche after cliche. The disgraced fighter who still has the skills but can't face the fans. The abusive boyfriend who means well. He's struggling with his own life and still trying to live off of her success. The guilt trip that he takes her through. Constantly telling her where he was headed before he met her and all of the sacrifices he's made. The "accidental" hit and subsequent apology. That hit being the straw that breaks the camel's back and forces her to finally leave him. Yeah, been there done that right? Not to mention the monkey wrench.

Jackie's mother shows up with the son that she had left behind the first time that she started fighting. Of course, they have an estranged relationship as well. Then guess where she has to go after things go wrong with the boyfriend. Like we didn't all see that coming.

The only unexpected thing about that was the dynamic between Jackie and her son. The boy had refused to talk. Though that was different it wasn't very interesting and actually became kind of disturbing. There's a scene where he pees himself rather than tell her that he needs to use the bathroom.

We also find out that the problem with Jackie and her mother stems from sexual abuse Jackie endured as a child. Surprise, surprise. Nope not really. I saw that coming from a mile away. Despite all of that she still manages to start fighting again

Then they go right to the same cliches of the fight films of old. Of course, she gets a title shot. Oh, and let me guess her opponent is way out of her league. I knew before she even stepped one foot inside of that cage that she was going to lose that fight. She was going to make it look good though wasn't she. She was going to come really close to winning right? She was going to go home with a huge moral victory. She was going to find her redemption. All of that happens and just win you think it couldn't get any worse the son decides to talk to her after all.

So this film spent a lot of time telling us what we already knew and no time telling us what we wanted to know. Like where was her daddy? Why did she leave her son? How the hell did she become a fighter in the first place? There was plenty of back story but not plenty of time. They also briefly give her a love interest that we also knew wasn't going to work out.

At the end of the day, I think as a director she did what she could with the script that she was given. As an actress she was the Halle Berry that we always know and love. At the end though the great Halle Berry wasn't enough to save this badly written cliche driven film. I give this film two stars out of five and that's because I am a little Halle bias.