As Jessica Biel shows us here, much effort goes into becoming an action heroine: strenuous exercise, martial arts training, special dieting, and, yes, even drinking "protein powder things" (sorry, Angelina). Natural ability, which Biel has in spades, of course also helps. And contrary to what Dominic Purcell says in the clip, we have expected our heroes to look able-bodied since classical antiquity; the distinction is—now, finally, the same is true for our heroines:

Rocky, Fight Club, Million Dollar Baby—you can make comparisons to those three movies, but Rigged is unique, a new twist in a threadbare genre. Rigged is about a female fighter; nothing new there, except this woman fights men—heavyweight bruisers—and beats the living crap out of them. And with a setup like that, well, you can imagine how eager I was to see it. I was fortunate to do so last night.

Rigged revolves around two characters. Michael Dublin (Chad Ortis) is a sleazy fight promoter, more a swindler actually, since he often fixes the fights for a handsome profit. One night, when Michael is in a particularly tight spot, he meets Katherine Parker (Rebecca Neuenswander) and soon discovers that she can punch out men twice her size (great scene). Of course, dollar signs immediately go off in Michael's head; he's found his meal ticket. This sets off a series of adventures with plenty of ring action. I won't say more about plot here, for fear I'll give away spoilers, only that the movie did not disappoint.

Fight scenes are crucial to a movie like Rigged, and they are presented here in novel but effective ways. But it is Neuenswander, a former taekwondo champion, who makes the fight scenes work. Katherine's fights with big, heavily muscled men look convincing (mostly)—not an easy thing to do—thanks to Neuenswander's ability to move and punch like a trained fighter and the muscle she packed on (20 pounds) for the role.



Neuenswander earns praise not only in the action scenes but throughout the film; it's easy to see why she recently won Best Actress at the SoCal Film Festival for her performance in Rigged. She is a wonderful young actress (not to mention a humanitarian: she is the founder and executive director of HALO, a nonprofit that helps orphans worldwide). I sincerely hope we see more from her soon.

And there is more to like. The film, for instance, has a noirish feel to it that I found pleasing. Ortis also delivers, and the banter between Neuenswander's Katherine and his Michael is entertaining, though often crass, and fills the lulls between action scenes nicely. Don't expect the typical romance subplot here, either: she sleeps with women, ostensibly lesbian but never quite certain of the matter herself. The ending may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I liked it. I walked out of the movie looking forward to seeing it again.

By now you've guessed, correctly, that I'm going to recommend you see Rigged. I am not doing that because I think it is the perfect, or nearly so, female action film, because it isn't. But it is much more, so much more, than we usually get—a little indie film that delivers what the big studios so rarely do. Rigged is a treat, and fans of the female action genre ought not to miss it.

Rigged is currently making the rounds at film festivals, with the hope that it will eventually go into wider distribution. Check the movie's website to see when it might be showing near you. I leave you with the official trailer:



Additional sources: lawrence.com