This is another in a continuing film series in which Danny Trejo plays a larger part on the cover than he does in the film. At least a zombie doesn't eat him after 10 minutes. Based on a true story the film opens up with Emilio (Alvaro Orlando) in a south Miami mental health facility. We don't know what he did, but he is being punished by being locked alone in a cell with Danny Trejo trying to be his friend. Emilio describes the events that lead up to this scene.

We find out Emilio, who grew up with hoodlums, was rescued by his uncle Frank (Oscar Torre) who taught him how to box. Emilio is an undisciplined boxer with a lot of energy who dreams of fighting for the Golden Gloves. Toss in a female promoter and love interest (Camila Banus) an old dog, a mom (Yeniffer Behrens) with an abusive boyfriend (Steven Bauer),the predictable music montage training sequence and championship fight and you pretty much have a formula film.

The acting was decent. The women were pretty, apparently ugly is outlawed in Miami as it is in California. While the film is about a boxer, there is relatively little ring action. Might work as a rental. A guy film a woman can watch.

Parental Guide: F-bomb, N-word. Woman being choked. Brief attempted rape scene. Brief sex scene. No real nudity.

This is the kind of movie that you never hear of, and after you watch it, you wonder why there aren't more movies like this. America is full of interesting people that overcome terrible odds. But the movies you see made commercially have the same stars, redoing the same stories, or remaking old TV shows.

This movie holds your interest throughout the entire movie. The characters are realistic, because it is based on a true story. I love Danny Trejo, but frequently he just has cameo appearances, but he has a solid performance in this movie. I hope this crew makes some more movies, and that Hollywood starts promoting more Indy films. The Behind the Scenes portion of the DVD says that the film was made in 14 days, on a very low budget.

COUNTERPUNCH is a cheap boxing drama made on a tiny indie budget. Watching it, you wonder why they bothered with a story that just goes through a number of genre cliches, including prison life, training, and the climactic fight, when all of it feels so hackneyed, so predictable. The budget is too low as well, which precludes any decent writing or performances, making this a chore to watch. Danny Trejo pops up as a convict and Steven Bauer's in there somewhere too, but this really is the pits regardless.