The boxing arena is a seamy underbelly of sweat and smoke. Everyone is against Stoker. His wife, his manager, the crowd, and his age. This gloom mixed with the fragile dreams of the locker room creates grim mood reflective of the best hard-knuckled noir. Lovely evocative cinematography enhances the tone. Robert Ryan as Stoker bares the brunt with a relaxed confidence trying to ignore that his best days are behind him. He has to stop what he loves sooner rather than later. The supporting cast in the locker room does an excellent job of creating a desperate dreams atmosphere, not a weak link in the bunch. Once again, Wise captures a brutal boxing match but with more emphasis on the ring’s isolation. Though the “real time” clocks feel a bit self-conscious, it’s a lean mean film with very little waste. I give it the strongest recommendation.

Of course in these PC times I'd be offended by the fat guy stuffing his face with a variety of snacks. Oh, how funny, where did he gat all that food from? I know, let's do a movie with only one fat person in it and call him Porkins.

I haven't seen this film but the review alone and the strength of Ryan's performance makes me want to see it, the cherry is the Wise/Scorcese commentary

Before this series, Quint to me, was just the guy who was in King Kong, made rudimentary grammar errors and often wrote articles that were obviously based on 5 minutes research on IMDb and ended with a pleading "what do you guys think" at the end.

It has been a joy to watch him develop as a writer and see his film education develop before our eyes.