Brothers Stanley (Charlie Hunnam) and Walter 'Lion' Kaminski (Jack O'Connell) struggle to survive by breaking into homes and buildings in the northeast. Lion does underground bare knuckle boxing after a failed boxing career. Stanley gets into money trouble with Pepper who coerces the brothers to transport Sky (Jessica Barden) to scary Yates in Reno on their way to a big Jungleland fight in San Francisco.
I mostly like this movie and these characters except they keep doing stupid stuff. I don't actually buy Pepper handing Sky over to the brothers. If Yates is as scary as that, Pepper would still be held responsible. It's much safer to do it himself although it could be considered human trafficking. I don't think Sky is a minor so that's a plus. Handing her over to the brothers is asking for trouble. As for the brothers, they are not asking enough questions. Their fight is like arguing about the deckchairs while the Titanic is sinking. It's a bit besides the point. These characters don't make sense. The last act is full of questionable dumb things being done by the brothers which can only be excused by them being frustratingly dumb. It's frustrating to watch character that you root for doing dumb stuff. Otherwise, these are good actors doing compelling characters.
I mostly like this movie and these characters except they keep doing stupid stuff. I don't actually buy Pepper handing Sky over to the brothers. If Yates is as scary as that, Pepper would still be held responsible. It's much safer to do it himself although it could be considered human trafficking. I don't think Sky is a minor so that's a plus. Handing her over to the brothers is asking for trouble. As for the brothers, they are not asking enough questions. Their fight is like arguing about the deckchairs while the Titanic is sinking. It's a bit besides the point. These characters don't make sense. The last act is full of questionable dumb things being done by the brothers which can only be excused by them being frustratingly dumb. It's frustrating to watch character that you root for doing dumb stuff. Otherwise, these are good actors doing compelling characters.