I was impressed and delighted that CityTv aired this movie on a Saturday night in a relatively prime time slot - a welcome change from the usual Hollywood schlock that dominates the airwaves. This movie courageously, if not deeply, explores some interesting family dynamics, thankfully not the usual ones. Instead of the usual predictable, boring,stifled family life anecdotes, Punch gives us a glimpse into REAL people with REAL - and interesting -problems - not the usual TV and Hollwyood fare that doesn't reflect any families I know! EXCELLENT MOVIE! The writing, directing and acting was absolutely top quality on all counts: I don't think anyone missed a beat - first class acting throughout - making these interesting characters totally believable. Thankfully, the women were all strong, interesting and compelling - the topless boxing was a welcome change from the plastic (and I mean that literally) "beauty" queens that bare - or don't quite bare - their breasts. This is part of what makes this an important movie - women come in all shapes and sizes and thanks to this movie for reminding us of this. If you want plastic tits, boys, you can find them almost anywhere(unfortunately)... 'Punch'is real and totally rocks. Every character has issues that they are actually working through, in different kinds of ways, and the exploration of the relationships between these characters demonstrates how we learn from others in relationships. Very cool. Unusual to encounter, although Canadian films seem to be good at this overall. UNFORTUNATELY, the narration gimmick was a real distraction! What was that about? I'd love to see it 'sans' narration - whatever the intent of the narrative technique was, it din't work. Too bad, apart from that, this was an outstanding film.

I saw this film on cable and believe me, once was enough. It is at best a character study of a disturbing father-daughter relationship. At worst it leaves a strong impression of incest, and shows the destruction that passive parenting can create. It is very clear from the start that Ariel, the daughter, is angry at the world. When her father, a prominent doctor, invites his new girlfriend home for dinner, Ariel makes every effort to sabotage the evening. She finds faults with this woman which exist only in her demented mind, as she wants her father all to herself. The evening ends with Ariel punching this woman in the face and screaming like the mental patient she is.In my opinion, Ariel is clearly the villain. When the victim's sister(a topless female boxer)enters the scene, Ariel does what every bully does: rationalize her actions by claiming that the victim brought it on herself. Ariel walks all over her father, treats him like dirt, but he is to blame because he let it happen. The female boxer makes an effort to understand why Ariel is the way she is, but to no avail. The intervention of the boxer was like a form of therapy. Ariel needed to be put in her place, and her father sure wasn't able to do it. I cheered the climactic ending as Ariel got a taste of her own medicine, because I could not muster up any sympathy for this rotten bitch.

I really enjoyed this movie. The characters draw you in. I was intrigued from the beginning. The characters are very well written. I was surprised by the complexity of the female characters. Women can be very hard to understand. I loved how complex the female characters were. Especially because they are so rare to see. The daughter is very well written. Julie the Beauty could benefit from more character development. Extremely well acted. KUDOS to all involved. I would have sworn this was written by a female. Excellent. I liked all the female characters and felt the tortured existence of the male "dad" lead. Great flick. Even my non film-minded Pakistani husband enjoyed it.

It's easy to over-look the real issues in the film Punch when it contains such outrageous plot element as female topless boxing, but that would be a mistake. The film is more about the relationship between father and daughter, about dealing with loss, anger, and reclaiming one's emotional self.The script is well-written and the performances are real. There is a real risk of it turning into melodrama but director Guy Bennett does a good job preventing that by keeping the characters and situations real.The film deals with many complex issues but does not ruin it by trying to provide us with answers to everything but simply presents them and leaving the rest to the audience. That takes guts... as it does when one makes a film with female topless boxing and wishes to be taken seriously.