The Nail: The Story of Joey Nardone, 2009

So I just got done watching: The Nail: The Story of Joey Nardone. Overall I thought it was a good movie. I consider this movie a feel good movie, despite some sadness at the end of the movie.

Basically the movie is about this guy (Joey Nardone) who went to prison for 8 years because he was sticking up for a friend and got in a fist fight and accidently killed a young girl in the process. He went to jail for involuntary manslaughter.

The story starts as he is just getting out of jail. Joey ends up taking an interest in a neighboring boy who has familial issues AKA dad beats mom and son. Joey ends up teaching the young boy how to box. Issues arise in the movie based on the relationship that comes about with the boy and Joey. Joey takes care of the boy in ways that his father never does, or can, AKA he actually cares about the boy. They quickly form a bond and it becomes obvious that the boy, who is being helped by Joey, is helping Joey at the same time.

I thought the acting in the movie was a little cheesy. There were moments where I thought the boy was over expressive, being too excited was the most common of these expressions. Parts of the story were also unrealistic. For instance, after the father brutally beats his son for receiving a gift (a pair of boxing shoes for Joey) the boy is taken to the hospital and it is revealed that he has internal bleeding. He survives, as is expected, and Joey ends up beating the father to a pulp for what he did to his son. These things are quite naturally all expected. I consider that to be the unrealistic element though. Reality is unpredictable, and this movie is nothing but predictable.

Don’t get me wrong, I like this movie, but it’s a predictable kind of feel good movie. At least to some degree. I was distressed when the abusive father came back at the end of the movie, though I knew it would happen, and ended up killing Joey, but at least Joey killed the abusive father before he died with Jesus (pronounced Hey Sues) holding him and crying onto his shoulder right?

I personally don’t know what I find more distressing though: that Joey died at all, or that the only way they could conclude the movie happily was by fast forwarding EIGHT years to show Jesus receiving a prestigious boxing award, much to everyone’s merriment. I mean seriously, if you’re going to crap out at the end so badly like that why would you tack on a rather sleezy happy ending to try and make up for the fact that you literally killed the happiness of the entire movie?

Being the pessimist I can be I’d much rather have had a cliff hanger ending that somehow revolved around Joeys death. Quite honestly, with all that the mother and the son had been through up to this point in the movie I doubt the boy’s mental/cognitive development was correct. I’m sure it wasn’t normal anyway. I sincerely doubt he would have simply went on, even though it was eight years later, to be a happy progressive winning boxer. That’s just what we want to think. That’s just what we want to have happen. 

So, final word: the predictability of this movie was its downfall. But it definitely had its moments.