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The Grass Arena (1991)
Director: Gillies MacKinnon
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Having already impressed with Conquest of the South Pole and Needles, MacKinnon here offers a tough, intelligent version of John Healy's autobiography. Brutalised by his father during a sickly childhood, Healy later ditched a promising boxing career to indulge his obsession for booze among the dossers in London's parks. Repeated stints in prison didn't help, and only when a cellmate taught him the game of chess did salvation seem a prospect. While MacKinnon makes great use of a highly mobile camera - though made for TV, this is real film-making - he and scriptwriter Frank Deasy respect the inherent drama of Healy's painful, often drily funny story, aided by an astonishing performance from Rylance as the shy, innocent and none-too-articulate Healy.Author: GA
Cast & crew
Director: Gillies MacKinnon
Producer: Ruth Baumgarten
Cast: Mark Rylance, Lynsey Baxter, Pete Postlethwaite, Billy Boyle, Gerard Horan, Bunny May, Harry Landis full cast
Duration: 90 mins
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