Manny the Man
Manny is a documentary narrated by Liam Neeson which looks at the life of boxer Manny Pacquiao. Taking us from the poverty of his childhood where he dropped out of school to catch fish and earn money. But after winning a fight one thing lead to another and soon the then under age and under weight Manny was on to a phenomenal but not always smooth career as a professional boxer.
Whilst I am a sucker for an inspirational boxing movie I am not overly a fan of watching boxing but am well aware of who Manny Paquiao is. The good news is that for those like me with just a familiarity with the name of Manny this documentary is highly watchable because his life and the machine, as in the people, behind him makes it so interesting from learning about his childhood to seeing the training he would go through to become power and even quicker. Along the way we also get to meet the people who were pivotal such as his coach but also learn how initially his management were not paying him the money he was entitled to.
Now here is the thing, two things. One I haven't gone in to detail in this review of "Manny" because having watched this only knowing the minimum I am convinced it works best that way for those who don't know the ins and outs of his career as it is those moments of revelations alongside his inspiring story which makes it so entertaining. But secondly I am pretty sure those who are in to boxing will enjoy seeing the footage of Manny's fights and the people in his team such as Freddie Roach.
What this all boils down to is that "Manny" is a highly watchable and tells a story which is unsurprisingly inspiring but is also moving and thoroughly fascinating at the same time. And as I said, you don't need to be a huge fan of boxing to watch this and find yourself surprisingly enthralled by it.
Tags: Boxing Movies
