Left to right, Ciaran Hinds, Miles Teller, and Aaron Eckhart in Bleed for This (Seacia Pavao/ Open Road Films)

Bleed for This is a strong addition to the boxing-movie canon. It hits all the familiar notes with confidence: crushing adversity, perseverance against all odds, the washed-up coach, the father who pushes too hard, the mother who worries too much, etc. For anyone who’s seen The Fighter, Million Dollar Baby, or even Rocky, nothing about this film will be particularly surprising. However, it offers a well-told story bolstered by some remarkable performances, and so if nothing else, it’s a darn good genre film.

Based on the life of Vinny Pazienza (Miles Teller), known in the ring as the Pazmanian Devil, Bleed tells the story of one of the most dramatic comebacks in sports history. We start out at rock bottom, following Vinny as he goes to absurd lengths to stay within his weight class. Despite all the effort, his opponent utterly destroys him, upending his already faltering career. After learning some tough wisdom from his new, heavy-drinking coach (Aaron Eckhart), he manages to eke out an unexpected win, only to be debilitated by a head-on car crash. (Teller must’ve been having some pretty serious Whiplash flashbacks.)

At 40 minutes in, we’ve already seen Vinny follow the traditional rise-and-fall path of an athlete, only to be smacked down even lower. Vinny’s neck is broken by the accident, leaving his spinal cord in critical condition. His only hope of boxing again is to live in a “halo,” a contraption that looks like something out of Dr. Frankenstein’s lab, complete with screws embedded in Vinny’s skull. (He rejects anesthesia for this, because he is a very tough boy.) It doesn’t stop him from training, and whereas Rocky Balboa exercised by jogging around scenic Philadelphia, Bleed’s montages feature grim neck exercises in a musty basement. If it wasn’t based on a true story, the idea of Vinny bench-pressing in a neck brace would strain belief.

The supporting cast is quite strong, though they’re not given much to do. The alcoholic coach is an unusual role for Eckhart, who seems to be having fun with it, while Ciaran Hinds mixes genuine affection with genre-prescribed gruffness as Vinny’s father. He has a particularly lovely little scene late in the film, which fleshes out the father-son relationship nicely. Katey Sagal also has some strong moments as Vinny’s mother, but by and large this is the Paz-man’s show, and the camera never strays from him for long.

Bleed for This isn’t exactly a film that takes risks. Instead, it sticks close to the genre playbook, telling the familiar story of a rough-and-tumble man beating the odds. If you’re a fan of boxing movies, or just looking for an inspirational tale, you’ll doubtless find this to be excellent viewing. If you’re not a fan, there won’t be much here to win you over. As Vinny insists at the end, it really is that simple.