Review: THE BRONZE is Gold Medal Material

In today's film THE BRONZE, Melissa Rauch plays Hope Ann Greggory, a former Olympic gymnast whose bronze medal, won on a ruptured Achilles, made her America's sweetheart and a hometown hero back in 2004. These days, however, over a decade out from her Kerri Strug-like performance in Rome, Hope is back in Ohio, living at home with her mailman dad and stealing money from the poor schmucks on his route to spend at the local mall. Except at Sbarro, where Hope eats free. One of the perks of being the "Amherst Angel."

As her father Stan's patience and money run out, an offer too good to be true comes in - if Hope agrees to coach a young gymnast through her Olympic bid, Hope will be bequeathed $500,000 from her late coach's estate. The only problem is, well, Hope. As she says early in the film, "I'm not a coach. I'm a star."

THE BRONZE is a quirky little film, a dark comedy like BAD SANTA, a sports flick like SLAP SHOT. Hope Ann Greggory is the kind of character you don't see too often - played by a woman, that is. She's a selfish, rude, thoughtless, lazy, mean, vulgar little package wrapped up in Team USA warmups with a scrunchie on top. She says what she wants and does what she wants, and gets away with it because the people around her let her. Her father Stan is an enabler. The closest thing she has to a friend, Ben, is a doormat. Mighty Maggie, her new disciple, is oblivious and naïve. And Lance, a former gold medalist and current Team USA coordinator, is himself an a-hole who gives Hope a run for her money in the awful human being department, but isn't nearly the threat that Hope is to herself.

The script, written by Melissa Rauch and Winston Rauch, for all its eccentricities doesn't really deviate from convention and is more optimistic than films like BAD SANTA or SLAP SHOT. The world may be littered with damaged people across a landscape of broken families and disposable celebrities trapped in a small-town fishbowl, but Hope is still redeemable, even if by the end she's really only about 28% less awful than she was at the start. Not that it matters too much. Rauch may be at her best matter-of-factly threatening the people around her, but the brief glimpses of humanity that peek through are what grounds the character. They are what make her relatable, even in all of her offensive glory.

The cast supporting Rauch is superb. Gary Cole is perfect, Haley Lu Richardson smiles so much my face hurts, and, it turns out, Thomas Middleditch is a master at twitching. And to Sebastian Stan (because I know he's reading this), I owe you an apology. It's not that I didn't think you could be funny, I just didn't expect you to be that funny. Stan's scenes with Rauch may be the best in the film, and a special kudos to Rauch and Stan for that sex scene, a ridiculously logical extension of all those suspicious "dance" moves and fitness foreplay videos. Alone it's worth the price of admission for outrageous commitment and creativity.

THE BRONZE, starring Melissa Rauch, Gary Cole, Thomas Middleditch, Sebastian Stan, Cecily Strong, and Haley Lu Richardson, is rated R for strong sexual content, graphic nudity, language throughout and some drug use.

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