Undercard Parent Guide

When she was a serious contender in the ring, Cheryl “No Mercy” Stewart (Wanda Sykes) managed to blow up her career and her family life at roughly the same time – an occupational hazard for a heavy-drinking alcoholic. In the years since, she’s sobered up, started going to Alcoholics Anonymous, and found work coaching new boxers at Baba T’s (William Stanford Davis) gym. What she really wants, though, is to fix her family. Currently living with her young daughter, Meka (Estella Kahiha), Cheryl’s already had a few warnings from a social worker about their living situation but she’s determined to keep her daughter in her life. 

Cheryl’s determination to be a good parent to her daughter comes in part from her difficult relationship with her adult son, Keith (Bentley Green). He was six when her drinking was at its worst, and Cheryl gave him up to be raised by his grandparents. She’s tried to reconnect and apologize but Keith doesn’t want to hear it. He has his own boxing career to think about, and he looks like a promising fighter. No matter where she looks, Cheryl has an uphill struggle ahead. 

Despite the prevalence of boxing in the film, this really isn’t a sports movie. It’s a fairly slow-moving personal drama about addiction and emotional instability. The family business could be anything – you could pretty easily change this to be about a restaurant, for example – and the movie’s dynamics would be the same. Unfortunately, the boxing scenes tend to slow down the story. Characters give generic advice (“hit him in the body, then the head!” – how insightful) and tired motivational speeches (“This is your time! This is our time! You’ve gotta earn it!” etc. ad nauseam) while the fighters duke it out in nearly empty rooms. I don’t think the budget covered enough extras for a convincing crowd, so the fights all happen in suspiciously dark and empty gyms.

Apart from the violence inherent in combat sports, the film dips its toes into a few other content concerns. Nearly three dozen f-bombs accompany serious alcoholism and some brief marijuana use, making Undercard a dicey choice for younger audiences – who, honestly, probably aren’t that interested anyway. 

The big (and arguably, only) draw here is seeing Wanda Sykes in a serious dramatic role. Her history as a comic actor notwithstanding, she’s done an impressive job with the material. I don’t know if that’s enough to justify sitting through the sticky pacing, bland fights, and generic dialogue, but that’s all you’re going to get, so you might as well appreciate it. 

About author

Keith Hawkes

Keith Hawkes graduated from Mount Royal University, Calgary, Canada with a degree in English and History. His interests are movies, American literature, science fiction, almost every kind of music, and museums. He enjoys criticizing films for fun - although he's okay with being paid for it.