The Set-Up Screening Response: "Always One Punch Away"

In Robert Wise's The Set-Up, we follow Stoker Thompson, an aging boxer who is trying to earn himself a shot at a title, by demonstrating his skills at a less-than-prestigious ring in Paradise City. The movie begins and ends with a clock in the frame. A clock is also shown at various points throughout the film, to inform an alert audience that the events of the film are taking place in real-time.The use of real time in the film helps to put into context the fight that is at the center of this film. The dread of the upcoming bout,suspense and urgency of the fight, Stokers wife making it to the arena, Stoker's attempted escape from the gangsters, all happen in 72 minutes. The use of time makes the film come alive. The suspense feels real, the fight feels long, brutal and real. An interesting message is hidden in Wise's use of time. In 72 minutes, a boxer is able to go from hopeful competitor, to champion, to being crippled in a career-ending fashion. A boxers five-minutes of fame, before some sort of debilitating injury or trauma is a common theme in boxing films, serving as the metaphor for the boxers representation of the working class, of physical laborers. Trading their bodies and minds for money and sustenance, boxers and laborers have much in common. Not surprising then, is it that a "fix" or a "set-up" tends to be present in boxing films, often orchestrated by a wealthy and nefarious gangster. As they mentioned in The List:Boxing films and the geri-action hero, a boxer can be seen as representing the struggle of an oppressed group like the working class or a minority population.The struggle of the working class to keep their noses clean, to take the moral high-road to success, is captured by the boxers reaction to the fix.

                          

Wise constantly frames encounters between two characters facing each other, hinting at the central role that conflict plays in his film and in the sport of boxing.The frames are often confrontational, combative. The fact that the shots involve two characters, facing each other in conversation, alludes to boxing as a sport, being a physical conflict between two people.There is as much conflict taking place outside the ring as there is inside the ring. As Grindon mentions in his essay Body and Soul:

"The fundamental problems or conflicts in the boxing film can be organized into four categories: body versus soul; opportunity versus difference; market values versus family values; and, finally, anger versus justice. These four related conflicts shape the more apparent conventions of plot, character, and setting"(Grindon 54).


 
Right off the bat is Stoker's conversation with his wife, in which we see the conflict of market values vs family values. She is not pleased with him continuing to box at the ripe old age of 35. Stoker reassures her that he will be fine, and predictably mentions the money he could earn and reminds her of "what they could do with it" (the money), as well as the possibility of earning a "top spot". The market demands fights. Fighters will fight, people will watch, and money will flow. But the market makes no consideration for the enduring health of a boxer. Nor does it take into consideration a families situation when they want to start a business or buy a home. Stoker and his wife need money to pay the bills if they want to leave the boxing world, unfortunately for them, Stoker's best way of acquiring the money he needs to quit boxing, is to box. They must weigh the risks to Stokers mental and physical health, and the integrity of their family, against their need for money and other market items.Julie is not so confident however, claiming that Stoker will always be "one punch away".

The familial conflict is further explored through Stoker's wife and her presence, or lack thereof at the gym. Things as simple as a hotel light, or an empty chair are enough to dramatically change Stoker's mood, because they symbolize the presence and support of his wife for his career. Similarly, Stoker was very shocked to see his friend carried into the prep room, beaten and disoriented, unable to remember who he is. In true market form however, the show must go on, and it quickly becomes Stoker's turn to step into the ring.

A little less clear cut, is the movies portrayal of the conflict between opportunity and difference. The crowd at the gym is full of a variety of almost cartoonish characters of different backgrounds and all walks of life, from the snake-like wealthy gangster, to the large and contented slob munching on snacks through the night. Though every attendee is different, they each contribute to an atmosphere of consumption, of danger and debauchery, that is not for the faint-hearted. In the film, the crowds greatest contribution to representing the conflict between difference and opportunity, is not who is present, but who is not. Julie, about to enter the arena, cannot stand the atmosphere of the location while she is preoccupied with worry for her husband, and ends up tearing up her ticket.

At the end of the film, the encounter between Stoker and the gangsters is one that I believe an example of the conflict between anger and justice. The gangsters lash out at Stoker, who is unaware of the set-up that he has just defied. In their own corrupted sense, they are exacting just on a misbehaving pawn. Stoker ends up striking Little Boy in the face, a final act of anger. Stoker lash out cost him his arm, and his career, but who could say Little Boy did not deserve a punch to the face? Wise explores the often intertwined relationship between justice and anger in this confrontation. Ending the last conflict of the film with a punch stirs up the economic comparisons again, with the lower class Stoker, being held down by the nefarious upper class gangsters. Stoker alive, but crippled. No longer able to box, he leaves the scene, having taken one last punch.