Madsen's performance almost saves 'Strength and Honor'

So much bad stuff happens to Irish boxer Sean Kelleher (Chicago's Michael Madsen) that Job himself might think he got off easy in the Bible.

First, Kelleher accidentally kills his best friend in the ring during a sparring session.

Wait. It gets worse.

Kelleher's wife dies of a heart disorder.

Wait. It gets worse.

Insurance agents deny paying death benefits to her cash-strapped husband, who then loses his house and is forced to move into a gypsy community for "travellers."

Wait. It gets worse.

Doctors tell Kelleher his little son Michael (Luke Whelton) has inherited Mom's heart disorder and will likely be dead in months.

Wait. It could get better.

A new American procedure might save Michael. But it costs $300,000.

Wait. It gets worse again.

The only way Kelleher can lay his gloved hands on that kind of cash would be to win "The Puck," an annual bare-knuckle fight. But he promised his dying wife he would never fight again.

Wait. It gets even worse.

The current Puck champ, Smasher O'Driscoll (Vinnie Jones), is a sociopathic traveller who's killed fighters in the ring and likes to compare himself to God.

Poor Kelleher is an out-of-shape has-been. Should he? Can he? Does he? Of course!

"Strength and Honor" comes from first-time director Mark Mahon, who also wrote the script and produced the movie without the normal creative checks and balances between writers, producers and directors.

Maybe that's why this drama is so wildly erratic.

Madsen's minimalist performance as a world-weary fighter recalls Jason Miller's perfectly pitched boxer-turned-priest in "The Exorcist." Madsen is utterly magnetic here, especially when he lets his beaten brow and sad eyes carry his thoughts and feelings through magical moments of intense silence.

But why do Madsen's costars act as if they've snorted two kilos of NoDoz just before Mahon called "Action"?

As the aptly named Smasher, Jones goes off the charts with unabated ticks, winking and head tilting, all while delivering lines with bombastic overkill.

Richard Chamberlain, slaying an Irish brogue, plays Denis O'Leary, the crusty old coach character immortalized by the late Burgess Meredith in "Rocky."

"Excuses don't win fights!" O'Leary shrieks. "Hard work does!"

Nice try, Richard. But that can't match Meredith's classic advice to Rocky: "You're gonna eat lightnin' and you're gonna (poop) thunder!"

"Strength and Honor" boasts a wacky soundtrack that riffs from bad 1960s chase music to Celtic-inspired Gregorian chants.

One song actually offers up the soggy lyrics, "Is this the bed I chose to make?" and "I want to run with the wild horses!"

Wait. Things just got worse again.

"Strength and Honor"

Rating: 2 of 4 stars

Starring:

Michael Madsen as Sean Kelleher

Vinnie Jones as Smasher O'Driscoll

Richard Chamberlain as Denis O'Leary

Luke Whelton as Michael Kelleher

Written, produced and directed by Mark Mahon. A Slowhand Releasing release. Rated R (violence). Running time: 104 minutes.