“an instant classic of a boxing movie”

Kolodny’s film is a touching, disquieting, relentlessly fascinating view of a troubled soul and of the world of trouble he belongs to.

-Richard Brody

Lovingly Textured…Charts a Champion’s Slide Into the Shadows.

-Guy Lodge

The post-salad days of real-life Connecticut boxer Willie Pep are dramatized with impressive vérité verisimilitude in Robert Kolodny's Venice-premiered debut feature.

PRESS FOR THE FEATHERWEIGHT

  • “Perfectly captures the fading glory of real-life featherweight boxing champ Willie Pep… Hugely vivid and superbly acted – notably by James Madio as Pep and singer-actor Ruby Wolf as his beleaguered wife – it is an extraordinary achievement for all concerned… Stylistically the film is bang on, both in its period recreation and in evoking the textures of mid-60s cinema… Madio is terrific – simpatico, poignant in his vulnerability."

    – Jonathan Romney, Screen International

  • “A poetic tribute to boxing champion Willie Pep… Technically impressive… Its narrative is subtle and laced with commentary on fragile egos, 1960s America and the uphill battle of chasing nostalgia… Each frame of The Featherweight holds an understanding of the camera as a shape-shifting interlocutor… Madio’s strong performance helps clarify the mystery… There’s so much to be impressed by in Kolodny’s debut — from the cinematography to Sonia Foltarz’s production design and Naomi Wolff Lachter’s costuming."

    – Lovia Gyarke, The Hollywood Reporter

  • "Robert Kolodny’s debut film as as agile as its irrepressible protagonist… [A] nifty debut feature… [The] format is inventive and ultimately effective… In the moments 'The Featherweight’ opens up, it gets to something quite profound… Relative newcomer Ruby Wolf is among the film’s standout performers… [The film] is as nifty as its warts-and-all protagonist, with an inventive verité storytelling style inspired by John Cassavetes that also evokes the era’s filmmaking. Long may such boldness continue in a sub-genre that’s always at risk of becoming samey.

    – Adam Solomons, IndieWire

  • "[A] clever and inventive faux documentary feature debut… A seamless and naturalistic experience… Much of the film’s palpable intimacy can also be credited to the strong ensemble performances… Madio balances Willie’s midlife weariness with an everyman pluckiness and charm that powers him through his most desperate moments. Ruby Wolf, in her first major film role, delivers a standout turn."

    – Kevin Jagernauth, The Film Verdict

  • “[A] cunning biography… [A] seamless period piece with uncanny era-specific cinematography… Both Sonia Foltarz’s production design and Naomi Wolff Lachner’s costumes are equally convincing and rich with texture… A particularly rewarding performance [from Madio] who’s been doing wonderful supporting work for years and makes the most out of his star turn.”

    – Stephen Saito, Moveable Fest

  • "Imagine a mash-up Mean Streets and Raging Bull, and you get the idea. Keep an eye out for it."

    – Dana Thomas, The Style Files

  • “A touching and intense portrait of a defeated man… A visceral, touching, realistic journey that respectfully connects to what Martin Scorsese and Stallone have made cinematic myth, but it can stand on its own legs… Independent and auteurist in the purest sense, this film is a small, great movie, which knows how to leave something important on an emotional level, as well as on an aesthetic level."

    Di Giulio Zoppello, Esquire

  • “An original and attention-worthy film… Excellent performances that are in symbiosis with the camera and that create a fictitious but also realistic film.”

    – Olga Nistorica, Cinematographe