Donnybrook  ★★★

‘DONNYBROOK: A scene of uproar and chaos; a heated argument.’

The definition doesn’t do full justice to the uncompromising 2019 drama Donnybrook starring Jamie Bell.

This is a tough, no-holds-barred look at the destructive interaction between three volatile, desperate characters inhabiting the fringe of society.

Bell plays Jarhead Earl, a Gulf War veteran struggling to make a life for his family outside the confines of their struggling working-class existence. Frank Grillo is Angus, a vicious local drug dealer.

Angus and his unhinged girlfriend and Earl have grown up in the same town, but the former soldier wants nothing more to do with the dealer who continues to supply Earl’s wife despite the fact she is trying desperately to break her habit.

Earl needs money and can fight. He robs a convenience story to get the entrance money for the annual ‘Donnybrook’, an illegal bare-knuckle fight where the last man standing wins $100,000.

But another run-in with Angus puts the dealer on Earl’s trail, threatening his family and leading to a final bloody showdown.

Director Tim Sutton’s fourth film aspires to be a Shakespearian tragedy, complete with elements like an operatic score, some beautiful lighting and carefully scripted moments of profound conflict.

But unfortunately audiences will struggle to identify with any character other than the innocent children caught up in the blood feud.

Earl’s circumstances are just too far removed from the typical viewer and Angus, His girlfriend and a corrupt cop (James Badge Dale), have little to no redeeming features.

The leads are all excellent with Bell the stand-out. Since his first major appearance in 2000, as the teenage Billy Elliot, Bell has increasingly pushed the boundaries of his acting ability.

Most recently in Lars von Trier’s disturbing Nymphomaniac Vol II, then playing Bernie Taupin in Rocketman and now here in Donnybrook.

He is continuing the journey with his most recent film, Skin, portraying a Nazi skinhead trying to redeem himself.