Bias in favor of “dude is a badass” movies in full effect on this one. I could try and breakdown the flaws in filmmaking here, but I don't want to. For my sensibilities, this film is exactly what it needs to be.

I'm a huge UFC nerd, so I was afraid I might want to pick it apart, mainly in Jake Gyllenhaal not seeming like a legitimate fighter. I thought he was great in “Southpaw, “ but after seeing the clips of filming fight scenes for Road House, and seeing Gyllenhaal hanging out with McGregor at live events on my social media feed, I became dubious that this incarnation of Gyllenhaal could actually pull it off, particularly acting/fighting with a legitimate fighter like Mcgregor. But with the right amount of Hollywood magic in editing and lighting and everything else that goes into making him look right, they succeeded. I was genuinely drawn into Gyllenhaal's character, his quiet charisma, and I was able to buy in enough to him being a fighter. McGregor actually ended up being the questionable casting here. From his first second on screen, through to the end, McGregor mugged for the camera like a madman with zero subtlety in his acting. He's not very good. He seemed a lot like how he is in real life, so maybe it is good casting. I could tell McGregor couldn't get out of being himself with any sort of acting ability, but maybe they wanted him to stay very much like how he publicly portrays himself. I'm glad he got this stab at acting, and I'd watch another acting attempt from him, but I don't think he deserves to be the highest paid first time actor in history (a record previously held by Duane “The Rock” Johnson).

All in all though, this gets 4 stars simply because it is made for me. I'm a sucker for the “badass dude being a badass dude” genre.