The Featherweight
The Featherweight is a 2023 American biographical sports drama film directed by Robert Kolodny and starring James Madio as professional boxer Willie Pep. It premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on September 3, 2023. Plot

Set in 1964, a direct cinema camera crew follows Willie Pep, retired two-time world featherweight boxing champion. Now living in Hartford Connecticut with his wife Linda (Ruby Wolf) an aspiring actress half his age, a drug-addled son (Keir Gilchrist), his Italian immigrant parents, mounting debts and the feeling of faded glory… Pep decides to make a return to the ring. Cast
James Madio as Willie Pep
Ruby Wolf as Linda Pep
Keir Gilchrist as Billy Papaleo Jr.
Stephen Lang as Bill Gore
Ron Livingston as Bob Kaplan
Lawrence Gilliard Jr. as Sandy Saddler
Shari Albert as Fran
Imma Aiello as "Mama" Papaleo

Production
Filming occurred in Hartford, Connecticut in late 2021, utilizing real locations from Willie Pep's life. Kolodny cast both professional actors and locals to heighten the nonfiction aesthetic of the film. Aside from Robert Kolodny, who spent the years as a documentary cinematographer on films like Procession and All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, the team behind the film involved several celebrated filmmakers from the documentary community, including Steve James as executive producer and Robert Greene as editor. Reception
The film received a five minute standing ovation at its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival. It received critical praise with indiewire comparing the cinéma vérité to John Cassavetes and Dana Thomas calling it a "mash-up Mean Streets and Raging Bull" in The Style Files. The film has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on five reviews. References

External links
 

American biographical drama films
American boxing films
American sports drama films
Appian Way Productions films
Biographical films about sportspeople
Films shot in Connecticut