The latest film by the Irish director, Jim Sheridan, received its US premiere on December 31st, just in time to be included in the 1997 Oscar nominations, and has got good reviews.
The New York Times critic, Janet Maslin, said The Boxer was "splendid", while USA Today said the movie had "punch". The story was inspired partly by the life of former boxing star Barry McGuigan, but contains fictional aspects, including an IRA element.
The film stars Daniel DayLewis, who has already collaborated with Sheridan in My Left Foot and In The Name Of The Father.
Day-Lewis plays an IRA man (Danny) who, after 14 years in prison, returns to his Catholic neighbourhood in Belfast. Maggie (Emily Watson), his lover, is the daughter of an IRA leader (Brian Cox), but has married another IRA man, who is a prisoner and Danny's best friend.
The film concentrates on Danny's efforts to run a non-sectarian boxing club, but his love affair with Maggie means the IRA aspect of the story is never far from the surface.
In the 1980s Sheridan wrote a story based on the life of Barry McGuigan. He and co-writer Terry George have taken McGuigan's life and transformed it into the Danny character in The Boxer.
Ms Maslin ranked it among the best movies of 1997.
The Los Angeles Times critic, Kenneth Turan, was less enthusiastic, saying the film's over-familiarity became a burden. But he acknowledged Sheridan's "strong direction" and his "lean and effective" storytelling.
The Boxer opens throughout the US on January 9th. But by screening it on December 31st, it becomes eligible for the 1997 Oscars, nominations for which are announced in February.