The Boxer

(Universal)

Daniel Day-Lewis, released from prison after a 14-year prison term for IRA activity, tries to revive both his boxing career and his teenage love affair. Jim Sheridan and Terry George (In the Name of the Father, Some Mother's Son) wrote the script and Sheridan directed. They make their points without subtlety: love is stronger than ideology; sport builds character. What makes the film work, despite its familiar trappings, is the fine, restrained acting by Day-Lewis and Emily Watson as his old flame. Theirs is among the most adult romances of recent film.