The Philly Kid

2012 Directed by Jason Connery

A former NCAA champion wrestler is paroled after 10 years in prison. Now, to save a friend's life, in a series of cage fights he must agree to do the impossible - lose.

Devon Sawa Wes Chatham Sarah Butler Neal McDonough Lucky Johnson Chris Browning Adam Mervis Bernard Hocke Ava Bogle Eric Scott Woods Michael Jai White Andrew Sensenig Rich Clementi Kris Van Damme

Alternative Title

Gladiators

action drama

94 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Jack Brink ★½

There’s enough awful writing and bad acting to already hate this movie, but being an MMA fan and former wrestler really highlights how much this movie gets wrong.
I mean, how are you gonna make an MMA movie, and then not know what a guillotine is...TWICE?
Review by CardboardSnake ★½

The fighting parts are really dumb. I mean, the main character is supposedly a D-1 champion wrestler with no fighting experience, and we've seen what happens when MMA newbies with a wrestling background steps into the cage for the first time: They shoot for a double. They certainly don't try to box, then get repeatedly slammed and outwrestled by some scrub. And for the climactic part... Really? "He might be in trouble; he's going for the guillotine early!" when the hold applied was, like, a half-assed cravate. Pro wrestlers don't even sell that shit. And "he is pursuing a guillotine again!" when the move in question was (some sort of aborted attempt at) an arm triangle. I suppose the fight-ending…
Review by Berk ★★

Movie felt like it was fast-forwarded. No depth to any characters at all. At least it was not boring. Only plus side is main character is not very handsome
I have made a sports list with bunch of unknown movies like this, Check it out here!
Review by Jay ★

| Scavenger Hunt #52 | Task #24 - A film where you aren't familiar with any of the leading actors. |

This movie just... isn't good. The first four minutes were some of the most awkwardly put together attempts at storytelling I've ever seen and just felt. Poor. You have your entire backstory told in two minutes, and then a ten year time skip in another two minutes and it just felt rushed and disjointed. This film utilizes flashbacks so I know it knows how to do it, and honestly if that's the little amount of shits you give about your character's backstory just utilize flashback.

The entire premise of the show is that a guy who wrestled will somehow…
Review by Max ★½

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

If a guy, who brought you into jail, tells you he has a foolproof plan to make you rich, there is no way it is going to get you into trouble. No way. You should totally trust that guy.
Review by Christian Finck ★★

Dear movie logic, how can someone look exactly the same after going 10 years in prison + beard? But thanks for one The Wire reference. Sadly it has terrible Neal McDonough in it. The only bright spot is always sympathic Sara Butler. If you compare the fight scenes to Warrior this looks totally like kindergarten. Unrealistic, dumb and bad filmed. Many dialogues are copied from other movies like Rocky or Warriors. Very inspiring. The Philly Kid delivers nothing near good and nothing special but it's okay for renting if you're totally bored.

Recent reviews

Review by Justin Nordell ★★★

The film opens with one hell of an upsetting bang but subsequently the whole thing is rather paint by numbers. However, that shouldn’t diminish fantastic performances from Wes Chatham and Devon Sawa.
Review by Berk ★★

Movie felt like it was fast-forwarded. No depth to any characters at all. At least it was not boring. Only plus side is main character is not very handsome
I have made a sports list with bunch of unknown movies like this, Check it out here!
Review by Jack Brink ★½

There’s enough awful writing and bad acting to already hate this movie, but being an MMA fan and former wrestler really highlights how much this movie gets wrong.
I mean, how are you gonna make an MMA movie, and then not know what a guillotine is...TWICE?
Review by Jay ★

| Scavenger Hunt #52 | Task #24 - A film where you aren't familiar with any of the leading actors. |

This movie just... isn't good. The first four minutes were some of the most awkwardly put together attempts at storytelling I've ever seen and just felt. Poor. You have your entire backstory told in two minutes, and then a ten year time skip in another two minutes and it just felt rushed and disjointed. This film utilizes flashbacks so I know it knows how to do it, and honestly if that's the little amount of shits you give about your character's backstory just utilize flashback.

The entire premise of the show is that a guy who wrestled will somehow…
Review by Max ★½

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

If a guy, who brought you into jail, tells you he has a foolproof plan to make you rich, there is no way it is going to get you into trouble. No way. You should totally trust that guy.
Review by Christian Finck ★★

Dear movie logic, how can someone look exactly the same after going 10 years in prison + beard? But thanks for one The Wire reference. Sadly it has terrible Neal McDonough in it. The only bright spot is always sympathic Sara Butler. If you compare the fight scenes to Warrior this looks totally like kindergarten. Unrealistic, dumb and bad filmed. Many dialogues are copied from other movies like Rocky or Warriors. Very inspiring. The Philly Kid delivers nothing near good and nothing special but it's okay for renting if you're totally bored.
Review by CardboardSnake ★½

The fighting parts are really dumb. I mean, the main character is supposedly a D-1 champion wrestler with no fighting experience, and we've seen what happens when MMA newbies with a wrestling background steps into the cage for the first time: They shoot for a double. They certainly don't try to box, then get repeatedly slammed and outwrestled by some scrub. And for the climactic part... Really? "He might be in trouble; he's going for the guillotine early!" when the hold applied was, like, a half-assed cravate. Pro wrestlers don't even sell that shit. And "he is pursuing a guillotine again!" when the move in question was (some sort of aborted attempt at) an arm triangle. I suppose the fight-ending…
Review by Luis Zuleta ★★½

Buena, normal..
Review by Kevin Horsten ★★

As far as straight-to-dvd type movies go, it's an okay watch if nothing else is on TV.
Review by Marcus Panico ★½

A fighter that's never lost that's being mad to lose? How original. Garbage acting, shit writing, unknown cast. If you know the sport, 90% of the fights look nothing like MMA. It got it's extra half star because I enjoyed the more gory scenes, and some of the most poorly acted scenes (like when the girl has her arms around him and and he was describing how he's a monster) were horrendous enough to make me laugh.
Review by Jesper Palmberg ★★★★

A really good fight-movie. Not much story, but great-looking fight scenes.