Summary

• Bang Bang, directed by Vincent Grashaw, explores the story of former boxer Bernard Rozyski and his journey toward redemption through family bonds.
• Tim Blake Nelson and Andrew Liner were drawn to the project by the script, their characters, and the deeper truths explored in the film.
• The film highlights the challenging realities faced by boxers post-career, emphasizing the importance of honoring the sport and the struggles of its participants.

Directed by Vincent Grashaw and written by Will Janowitz, Bang Bang premiered at prizefighter boxer, Bernard Rozyski, who has become closed off and angry in the aftermath of his glory days. When he agrees to take in his teenage grandson, Bernard is presented with an opportunity to bond with his estranged family member and share his ion for the sport he thought he'd left behind.

While Grashaw had been in talks with The Incredible Hulk star Tim Blake Nelson earlier in the process, Andrew Liner jumped at the opportunity to audition for the film when it was brought to him by his team. Liner's boxing background made him a perfect fit for the role of Justin, and he was excited to work alongside the pair. Meanwhile, Nelson its that he's drawn to a project because of the director and the material, and he feels Bang Bang's script "swerves towards deeper truths."

While at Tribeca, Screen Rant interviewed Andrew Liner, Vincent Grashaw, and Tim Blake Nelson about the necessary boxing preparation, Bang Bang's central relationship, and Nelson's return to the MCU in Captain America: Brave New World.

Vincent Grashaw Fell In Love With Bang Bang's Story

Screen Rant: Vincent, you are the director on this project. What made you want to get involved with Bang Bang?

Vincent Grashaw: One of our executive producers brought me a script from Will Janowitz, and I read it, and it was as simple as that. I fell in love with the story and characters and showed it to our team. It all kind of happened really quick, actually. We read it, and it was something we were looking to do and spent a few months getting a deal in place, and then went out to Tim, and there we go. We're ready to go. I think this script spoke for itself and I just fell in love with the story. I grew up with boxing in my life, and it was a story I wanted to see.

Andrew and Tim, I'd love to hear what drew you to the project, as well.

Andrew Liner: I auditioned for it. It came in from my team, a mix kid who's a boxer, and I grew up boxing, so it fit perfectly. I had this long curly hair. Vince liked the tape, and after he said he liked the tape, I told him I was obsessed with it. I loved the script. I watched all of Vince's movies. I watched all of Tim's movies. I told Vince, I think, that I would shave my head before the callback. He was like, "Relax, bro. Don't. What are you doing?" It all kind of worked out.

Tim Blake Nelson: Vincent asked me to do another one of his movies, and I liked the way he approached me about that. He'd written a wonderful letter and then with this one as well. I'd always thought about Vince because his first movie had interested me, and he had interested me. I'm very much led by material and director. This script made a lot of sense. I thought that the central conceit of the movie, which has a wonderful misdirection in it, without spoiling the film, in which you think that it's going to fit into certain narrative tropes that are really, not only acceptable, but expected in a boxing movie, the film really swerves in an interesting way toward deeper truths.

It sort of brings to mind that Harold Clurman quote—you want to get an audience laughing so that their mouth is open, and you can put the food in, whatever food you want. And that's kind of what this movie does in a wonderful way. I met with Vince and his producers and realized that Vince's vision for the movie was going to be satisfied, and they were going to him as a director. And, also, I would get what I needed in of prepping for the role to do it justice. At that point, I ed with all zeal.

Bernard is filled with a lot of anger, initially. He's very closed off. What's it like to encom a character like this?

Tim Blake Nelson: Again, thanks to the producers, I got a lot of prep time for the role. Unlike Andrew, I had done no boxing. I should also mention that Vince, having been a boxer, gave me a lot of confidence, because I knew that there was a leader for this project in Vince, who was going to keep me honest and make sure I always did look like I was a boxer. Even though I trained pretty much five to six days a week for six weeks for the movie, I knew that wasn't going to be sufficient.

I was going to need for Vince to keep me honest, which he did. That said, the training and being around boxers, assimilating a certain kind of energy around the gym, helps with this character a good deal. But that isn't to say that, at the end of the process, there wasn't a glide path out of it, where my wife was saying to me for a few weeks, "Who the f*ck are you?" when I got home and had a lot of the character still in me. And I don't mean that in a pretentious or precious way. It's just a fact.

Bang And Justin "Form A Loving Relationship In A Messy Way"

One of the main driving points of this film is the relationship between Bernard and his grandson. Andrew, how would you say Justin feels about his grandfather when we first see him?

Andrew Liner: I think it's interesting. I think Justin is in a place where he's looking for who he is, and looking for a sense of purpose, and he doesn't have a relationship with his grandfather, and his mom doesn't like her dad, so in turn, he kind of feels put off by him, but he's curious. I think, throughout the movie, you kind of see this messy relationship, but also a young man without a male role model or influence. But then Bang starts coaching and Bang starts training him and they kind of form a loving relationship in a messy way.

It's interesting to watch that rapport build on screen, so I'm curious what the two of you did, as well as the direction Vincent gave, to create that dynamic.

Vincent Grashaw: The thing with indie films, and every film I've done, you never really have much time to rehearse or anything like that. You get them together, and you hope you made the right decision in of a chemistry sense. We had a couple calls with Drew and Tim just to get to know each other. Tim had participated in the final callback with Andrew. So we were able to get as much as we could going before but, with films like this, you throw them into the fire and let them do their thing, even trusted them to do their homework with the roles, and they come very prepared. That's everything, because you don't have all that time while shooting. You just don't.

My thing with films and actors is just, when you're there, I'm over prepared, so it's guiding them like spirits. If there's a little thing that's off, that's all. That's really it. Tim with the boxing, like he said, for me, it wasn't even about him training to be in shape it was more about, and I spoke to the trainer, this guy named Martin Snow, who was working with him in pre-production. I just wanted any mechanics that Tim's character as an older man now and a veteran of the sport, even if it's just the subtlest, shadowboxing demonstration, I need the audience to buy it, or else this movie will fall apart because there are elements in the movie that, I don't want to spoil anything, he needs to be believable or it just doesn't work.

Andrew, you said you had a boxing background, correct?

Andrew Liner: I boxed a bit growing up, and then in preparation for the film, I did a little intensive, a bit of training, and I was doing a lot of weightlifting training as well. I did a little bit growing up, and then in preparation for the film, I had not even a month until I was in Kentucky.

Tim, how do you feel about boxing now that you've had a chance to do it?

Tim Blake Nelson: I certainly haven't returned to it, but I have a new understanding and a new appreciation for it. I think that, probably like with most sports, you can't really appreciate it until you practice it, even at a superficial level, which is still what I did. Although, by the end, I was sparring and really boxing. It was a great process. I certainly ire boxers in the sport in a way that I didn't, beforehand. I'll just put it that way.

Tim Blake Nelson Is Excited For His Return To The MCU

Vincent, you touched on this earlier, but can you give some more insight into what you have to keep in mind when you are putting these boxing sequences together and trying to capture them properly on screen?

Vincent Grashaw: Yeah. I mean, the sport is a very, it's a dangerous sport. It's one that you have to basically you're a gladiator you get in the best condition of your life to then get punched and beat up. And there's a lot of guys and girls that do this. And for me, it's about respecting it and understanding their process going through this, because this movie really is about what boxers are left with post career. And a lot of times, it's a really dark, awful place that that they're alone, they're forgotten is no matter how big they were in the sport.

And then a lot of times, most boxers except if you're like Mike Tyson, are all leave like, you're just it's old news in audience in your fame is kind of dissipated, and you're left with whatever you got, if you have any of your brain left. And it's just, it's one of those things that I, you know, my grandfather was a fighter, like a Golden Globes fighter in New York, or in a Detroit, in Saginaw, Michigan, in the 40s. So I just it really connected to me, especially where this story goes. So it's just about, you know, honoring that profession in a way that I thought was respectful and had humor and the things that move you in movies.

Tim, we have a bunch of MCU fans on Screen Rant. Is there anything you can share about your return in Captain America: Brave New World?

Tim Blake Nelson: Very excited about it. I'm headed to Atlanta tomorrow to continue working on that. It's been very exciting to bring back a character from 16 years ago and imagine how he has aged with me and how that has manifested. The Marvel team has come up with a really interesting explanation—revelation, I should say, as to what he's been up to for 16 years and why.

About Bang Bang

Back in his glory days, Bernard Rozyski (Tim Blake Nelson), better known as “Bang Bang,” was a beloved prizefighter boxer riding high on his success. These days he’s angry and closed off, living in his grungy house in a blue-collar Detroit neighborhood. When Bang Bang’s estranged daughter unexpectedly drops her troublemaking teenage son (Andrew Liner) off at his doorstep, it gives the bitter old man a chance at personal redemption as he trains the potential-laden kid in the ring. Problems arise when the former champ’s past demons have other plans, forcing Bang Bang to confront everything he’s tried so hard to suppress.

Bang Bang premiered at Tribeca Film Festival on June 11.

Source: Screen Rant Plus