<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/-ca-QxtB0pw” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen></iframe>FILM REVIEW – HAYMAKER. With Nomi Ruiz, Nick Sasso, John Ventimiglia, Udo Kier, D.B. Sweeney, and Zoë Bell. Written and directed by Nick Sasso. Unrated. 83 minutes. Available on demand and on digital platforms.
Bland of contusion
There are movies that prompt the chief reaction, “Why was this ever made?” In the case of HAYMAKER, it seems because producer/writer/director/star Nick Sasso wanted to make it. Why singer Nomi Ruiz thought this would be a smart career move is a different mystery. An outspoken transwoman, she may have felt it would be making a statement. If it does, it might be that she needs a new agent and better career guidance.
To be fair, here is the official plot summary: “Haymaker follows a retired Muay Thai fighter (Sasso) working as a bouncer, who rescues an alluring transgender performer (Ruiz) from a nefarious thug, eventually becoming her bodyguard, protector, and confidant. The relationship leads Sasso’s character to make an unexpected return to fighting, risking not only his relationship, but his life. Haymaker tells a story about human dignity and love.”
That their characters are Nick and Nomi might suggest this was some reflection on their actual lives, but let’s leave such speculation to others. That the movie itself doesn’t seem to address Ruiz’s status leaves one wondering why it was worth mentioning it at all. This isn’t a movie about whether a cisman (i.e., someone born that way) and a transwoman can find happiness together. In fact, it doesn’t seem to be about much of anything at all.
For that, director Sasso has two people to blame. First is writer Sasso (i.e., himself) for crafting a script with loose ends all over the place. It’s not really clear why Nick has stopped fighting, nor is it clear why one of the gangsters at the club that employs him think it would be okay to attempt to rape their star attraction. Later, at another club, we learn that Nomi has a “past” that apparently damaged the property of David (Udo Kier) in a scene fraught with tension that ends up going nowhere.
Likewise, Nick’s past is unclear, including why he became involved in Muay Thai–a martial art form that seems to have a spiritual dimension as well. And there, director Sasso can also blame actor Sasso who, to borrow a famous quip from Dorothy Parker about another performer, can run the gamut of emotions from A to B. There’s stoic and taciturn, and then there’s inert, and Sasso’s performance here falls into the latter category.
The whole focus of the film seems to be Nick coming to the realization that a.) he wants to get back into the ring and b.) he has developed more than professional bodyguard feelings for Nomi, yet neither the script nor the performance offer much explanation for either, except that’s where Sasso wants the story to go. In a fight, a haymaker is a devastating full-force punch. This “Haymaker,” however, is more of a powderpuff.•••
Daniel M. Kimmel is a veteran movie critic and author of a host of film-related books. His most recent novel is Father of the Bride of Frankenstein. He is the 2018 recipient of the Skylark Award given by the New England Science Fiction Association. He lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.