Punch

Topless female boxing! Writer-director Guy Bennett's bizarre, would-be literary exploration of incestuous father-daughter attraction, anger management, and women beating the crap out of each other while their particulars flap in the wind is actually nowhere near as salacious as it sounds, but also nowhere near as interesting as it might have been. Troubled teen Ariel (Sonja Bennett, the director's daughter) is upset that her widower dad, Sam (Michael Riley), is dating again, and she plays out her resentment through awkward sexual passes at him (which he--and the film--indulges far too much for comfort), as well as propositioning, in an unintentionally hilariously blunt manner, her French tutor. Ariel also punches people she doesn't like, including Dad's new girlfriend Mary (Marcia Laskowski), and Dad's attempts to patch things up fail miserably (probably because he calmly and unapologetically says things like "we were doing very well until my daughter assaulted you"). Grafted onto this sorry tale are the topless boxing adventures of Julie (Meredith McGeachie), Mary's sister, which are about angry women taking out their aggression on other women in the ring while, metaphorically, they'd really rather be punching the leering idiots cheering them on. Suffice to say, Girlfight it ain't. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include an autobiographical director's commentary. Bottom line: a small extras package for a small, ultimately undistinguished film.] (M. Johanson)