Trying to recapture the spirit of 1970′s New York cinema is a foolhardy mission. Many modern filmmakers have tried and failed because they have lacked one crucial ingredient… credibility. Just as Scorsese walked the Mean Streets and Woody Allen knew Manhattan inside out this second outing by Dito Montiel has a cast-iron knowledge of its location, which aligned with its engaging leading man make this film one to join those stellar efforts from some of Hollywood’s finest in terms of honesty if not quite quality-wise.

Shawn MacArtur (Tatum) is a low level street hustler struggling to make a living in a city which he has run away to. He crosses paths with seedy scam artist Harvey Boarden (Howard) who instantly sees an opportunity to make a quick buck off the short-fused brawler. As the odd couple make their way up the underground fighting ranks MacArtur is forced to confront his own violent past and square up against Evan… a man from his own home town who has made a professional success of his fighting career. Shawn also falls for Zulay, a young single mother from a very different background whose disapproving mother is a constant thorn in the couples side. As more and more money begins to be staked on the fights everyone soon has something to lose.

An instant Guide to Recognizing your Saints which was the debut film of Dito Montiel was genuinely one of the great films of the last few years. it captured the coming of age element of it’s central characters whilst having a universal appeal despite it’s New York setting. That film was Semi-autobiographical and Montiel knew the subject matter and characters in intricate detail. Now although the location is flawlessly exposed here, the topic of underground fighting and more importantly how these characters fit into that world feels slightly unreal. Also the rapid relationship between Zulay and MacArtur is confusingly breakneck in pace and a little too conventional. Howard’s lurking and lazy ‘promoter’ is also lacking something in his delivery and at no point do you think he would be able to control the seething rage shown by Shawn.

The film does boast some highly brutal fight sequences. These are not glorified Hollywood punch-ups or high flying martial arts extravaganzas, but instead we have close contact streetfighting and brawling with improvisation being key. Tataum’s ongoing internal struggle in the film is also wonderfully portrayed and it’s something we saw in his earlier collaboration with the filmmaker and hopefully will see again in the future.

At times the film struggles to give conclusive and coherent story against the vibrant yet depressing backdrop. You can see Montiel and the actors trying to achieve something more profound than the end product and certainly some of the components deserve a better finale than the seemingly tacked on climax here… but it is an enjoyable and engaging ride.