Strength and Honour (www.the-usher.com)

Hanging up his gloves seven years earlier, Irish fighter Sean Kelleher (Madsen) has struggled to make ends meet. Losing his wife and having to cope with been a single dad, his world is turned upside down when his son Michael (Whelton) is diagnosed with a heart disorder. Told that Michael only has a year to life, Sean is given hope when the doctor tells him of an experimental procedure that could save his son. The problem is that it will cost $300,000 and the only way he could get that kind of money is to enter the yearly Traveller’s bare knuckle fighting competition, the Puck but he would have to beat champion Smasher O’Driscoll (Jones), who has already killed two men defending his title.

When it comes to telling an Irish story of a father willing to risk his life to save his son, you wouldn’t have thought about casting Michael Madsen and Vinnie Jones in the leading roles.

There has been many a story in movie history about a fighter having to overcome an evil champion to save someone they loved and ‘Strength and Honour’ plays on this but with mixed results. The story of a father willing to do anything to get the money to take his son to Los Angeles for a life saving operation, is simply just a way of getting Michael Madsen to fight Vinnie Jones but uses Irish stereotypes to get there.

Based in the Traveller’s population of Southern Ireland, the traditional yearly event of ‘The Puck’, a bare knuckle fight contest with a €250,000 purse, is the main element of the movie. This is a contest for twenty-two fighters, fighting in knockout rounds with the only rules of no kicking or punching below the waist. The best two rated fighters then have the chance to fight, the Puck, the previous champion and their chance to win the huge purse. With a €10,000 buy in, this is a contest not for the light hearted and a real brawl for any fighter. This is the backbone of the story but the way it is the traveller’s are portrayed what lets the movie down.

The main problem with the movie is the lack of Irish actors in the key roles. Michael Madsen is a cult American actor who can bring something a little different to the roles he graces but as Sean Kelleher, he struggles with the Irish accent and sticks out like a sore thumb. The same can be said of Richard Chamberlain as boxing trainer Denis O’Leary, trying to be the new Mickey of this boxing movie. It is Vinnie Jones that is the truly dreadful element of this movie however. The former football hard man now turned actor, has made a career for himself as a movie villain or a heavy but has never really surpassed his performance as Big Chris in ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’. For the role of Smasher O’Driscoll he tries to don an Irish accent and he fails, dismally. He comes across more of a comedic parody than an Irish bare knuckle champion. Vinnie is truly dreadful and drags down the film with his dire performance.

‘Strength and Honour’ is a decent story ruined by the presence of Vinnie Jones. An Irish story should have Irish actors in the lead roles and this movie definitely suffers for it.

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2009