Most critics come away warm. Seven of the ten are positive, and the praise clusters on Johnny Harris, whose lead performance is called commanding, fully committed and emotionally layered; several note he drew on his own past. The camerawork comes second, with the final fight singled out more than once. A few critics add that the film works better as a study of a man drinking himself to the bottom than as a boxing picture, and credit it for refusing an easy ending.
The reservations are about the story. Several find the redemption arc predictable and the plot thin, and one or two call the film uneven. The spread is narrow, most scores sitting in a tight band, with two dissenters: Radio Times finds Harris less compelling than his supporting cast, and Eye for Film, reviewing much later, finds it low on energy and short of anything distinctive, while still rating Harris in the ring.