Haymaker (2021)

 

Moody, retired Muay Thai fighter Nick is working as a bouncer to make ends meet when he sees the club's singer for the night, Nomi, being hassled by a thug.  Nick steps in, using rather more violence than was perhaps required.

Fortunately for Nick's finances, the experience leaves Nomi feeling that she needs a bodyguard.  Nick, obviously, is her first choice for the job.

Adjusting to Nomi's jet-set lifestyle and hedonistic circle of friends doesn't come easy to the taciturn Nick, but over time he and the singer begin to grow close.  Friendship blooms, and perhaps something more, but the relationship is complicated by their conflicting approaches to life, as well as Nick's moodiness, and the siren call for him of stepping back into the Muay Thai ring.

Haymaker seems to be an earnest effort to put together a romantic drama where one of the pairing is transgender, while avoiding becoming "a transgender romance".  The film's best quality, I think, is that while Nomi being transgender is acknowledged, it is treated as another fact about her, no more different than the fact that she is of Puerto Rican heritage or that she is a brunette. It's refreshing to see a transgender character who is not defined by that aspect of themselves, and also not fetishised or othered.

Unfortunately, despite that earnestness, the movie doesn't really work.  There are a couple of reasons for that, I think.  Key is probably Nick himself.  As played by writer and director Nick Sasso, he's monosyllabic and uncommunicative, which leads to some of his actions never really being contextualised.

That lack of communication is a key challenge for the couple throughout the film.  This is tale of two people who take a long time to acknowledge the feelings between them, in large part because Nick never says what he is thinking or feeling.  Nomi's strategies to try and provoke him into expressing himself also seem a bit counter-productive: when you know the man has a temper, it's much more likely that flirting with other guys will make him storm off, rather than open up.

I also didn't like that the ending seems to require a lot more of Nomi than it does of Nick.  She's very much the one adapting her career to fit his needs, despite the fact that she earns a lot more, and that she'll probably have to cancel significant existing commitments to do so.  That's going to impact her career as well as potentially many fans and venues. Why can't Nick get on a plane with Nomi? It's not like he seems to have all that much tying him to his home: we just saw him spend several weeks in Thailand.

The film's brighter moments come courtesy of its female cast.  Real life pop star Nomi Ruiz is good in the on-screen role of her namesake, showing much more charisma than her co-star.  Stunt performer and actor Zoe Bell is also good in a minor role within the film, though sadly rather under-used.

I wanted to enjoy this more than I actually did.