Real Steel = Real Deal

Dakota Goyo should probably get an Oscar nomination for his work in Real Steel, but I doubt it will happen.

Real Steel is one of those projects that show just how far good writing, honest acting and good director can elevate a fairly basic and corny idea. I really want to know why Hugh Jackman signed on to do this movie after a pitch had to include, “There’s this cute kid who dances with a massive robot, but it’s basically a remake of Rocky.”

After watching “Last Air Bender” fail largely because it placed the weight of a movie upon a 12-year-old boy I was ready for Real Steel to fail because kid actors are hit or miss, but honestly the kid carries the movie well. Jackman and Lost alumus Evangeline Lilly turn in solid jobs but the kid does most of the heavy lifting in the film and does it with ease; Apparently Goyo is a natural.

He told the Wall Street Journal, “I never went to school for acting, it just comes to me. I never practice. I read the script, I’ll memorize it. I don’t even practice the acting I’ll just do it the day and it will just come to me. I read the script about two times before I even start the movie about a month before. At least two times. Every night I’d read like a half an hour of the script and usually I’d have it in the back of my head.”

That’s crazy.

Admittedly I studied acting just as a way to be a better writer, but to do what he did in a film isn’t easy. Lots of adults can’t hack it, Jennifer Lopez I’m looking in your direction, but the kid did a great job.

When I was in college the way I was taught to review fiction wasn’t if I liked it or not, but if the creators accomplished what they set out to do. Honestly, in some regards Real Steel is a perfect movie. They set out to make a fun, entertaining film that pays homage to Rocky, and they did that. The special effects are on par with Transformers, the acting is solid and the it never felt like I had seen this movie before. It was inventive and fun, which can’t be said for a lot of movies.
This is the sort of success the genre needs, good, modest budget films that turn a profit.