Film Reviews

The Calcium Kid

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Billie Piper
• Details: UK / 96 mins / (15PG).

Now that Orlando Bloom's stock has shot through the roof with teenage girls the world over (thank you Lord of the Rings), the long shelved The Calcium Kid finally gets a release. A mockumentary, it follows a film crew who want to make a documentary on Pete Wright (Tamer Hassan), a barely there boxer about to have a fight in London with middleweight champion, Jose Mendez (Michael Pena). Disaster strikes when the unstable Wright breaks his hand on the head of a local kid, Jimmy Connolly (Orlando Bloom). With only days to go before the bout, Jimmy is dubbed 'The Calcium Kid' by Wright's sleazy manager, Herbie Bush (Omid Djalili) and drafted in as Mendez new opponent. Can Jimmy do it? Well, what do you think?
To be fair to The Calcium Kid, while it never strays too far from the path of the deeply conventional there's a decent sense of humour underpinning the proceedings. Gentle but effective, the comedy is obviously tailored for the fresh faced Bloom, and though he's the 'undisputed' (sorry, couldn't resist) star, he hasn't got much to do beyond looking innocent and ocassionally ruffled. Amusing performances - especially the hilarious Rafe 'son of Timothy' Spall - are blunted by an increasingly ridiculous plot, but The Calcium Kid shouldn't be avoided.

Review by Garreth Murphy