28.01.08 – By Jason Rhodes: Sweet Dreams is a powerful debut documentary from filmmaker Eric Scott Latek which chronicles the rise of hard-hitting lightweight prospect Gary “Tiger” Balletto from local glory to the periphery of boxing’s big-time.
Twenty-seven year old Balletto is known in his Providence, Rhode Island neighborhood as a throwback to an older generation of Italian fighters.. He brings a rugged work-ethic, a style of non-stop aggression, and a dynamite left hook into the ring, an exciting mix that has earned him a 24-1 record (22 KOs) when we join him at the start of the film. Boxing is a sport, however, in which all this and fifty cents still probably won’t get you a cup of coffee. Sweet Dreams takes us far from the glitter and the golden-throated echoes of Michael Buffer to show us a world in which boxing is the full-time job which you pursue over, under, and in-between your other full-time job. In Balletto’s case, that other job is his own construction company, which, he attests, puts more on the table for his family than his applications of the sweet science.
Indeed, it’s outside of the ring that Balletto truly shines. Here, we see a portrait of a man whose sensitivity appears to be a complete inversion of the ferocity which he displays once he climbs through the ropes. At the beginning of the film, Balletto pays an emotional tribute to close friend and fellow boxer Bobby Tomasello, who died in October, 2000 after slipping into a coma at the conclusion of a 10-round fight which was televised on ESPN.
It’s not clear whether it was his friend’s death that provided the impetus, but Sweet Dreams tells the tale of Balletto taking his fight outside the ring to speak out on the need for fighters to unionize and demand health insurance, pensions, and a general improvement in pay and conditions. “Every other sport has a union,” says Balletto to a group of fighters who have gathered to hear about the benefits of organization. “Why not boxing?” Balletto is the New England Representative for the Joint Association of Boxers (JAB), a union of professional boxers under the Teamster umbrella, whose chief organizer is former light-heavyweight champion Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. Just how far JAB can go in addressing the injustices of a sport in which the career earnings of the vast majority of fighters pale in comparison to the bling on Floyd’s fingers remains to be seen, but the film shows JAB making boxing history by organizing the first all-union fight card on April 15, 2004 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan. No doubt Balletto nourishes his own dreams of a 7-figure payday, but his realization that the big money fights rest on the shoulders of the grunts who fight for $100 a round, and his sense of solidarity with all members of the fight club make him a standout among contemporary boxers.
Take a fighter who’s got a heart like Mickey Ward and a passion for social justice and you’ve got all the makings of a great boxing documentary. Sweet Dreams delivers on this potential, but it actually tells a story that goes far beyond the world of boxing. That’s because the backdrop for Balletto’s inspiring tale is the old wiseguy neighborhood of Federal Hill, a place where the local mafia don just might be the guy who killed your grandfather, as was the case with Balletto, rather than some slick crime-family prince brought to you on the silver screen. What makes Sweet Dreams more than a boxing movie is the definitions of ethnicity and manhood that are being questioned by the young Italian men in Balletto’s immediate vicinity.
Perhaps it’s Balletto’s impeccable ass-kicking credentials that make the machismo so unnecessary for him, but the sensitivity that he seems to wear on his sleeve—choking up in front of a crowd as he expresses his love for his wife, the joy he takes in being a hands-on dad who involves his kids in his life and himself in theirs—stands in sharp contrast to the tough-guy image affected by many of those around him, which really does seem as if it’s walked into real life just off the set of a gangster film. Enter Derek, a young wiseguy wanna-be who comes complete with a Goodfellas poster on his wall, a cigar and trench-coat, and an illegal gambling business he runs on the side, with which he’s hoping to make it to the bad-boy big-time. Problem is, Derek just isn’t mean enough for this line of work, is often a bit more awkward than tough, and seems ethically troubled by what just might ultimately be demanded of him should he decide on a life of crime as a career.
For Derek, perhaps the most tense moment in the film is when he realizes that someone who owes him $10,000 just might not be paying up. In such cases, he explains to Balletto, there simply have to be consequences, or else he’ll acquire the reputation of someone who doesn’t need to be paid, a common-sense proposition to which Balletto readily agrees. When Derek meets the father of the delinquent gambler in a parking lot, who proceeds to apologize profusely, make a $500 down payment on the debt, and beg for his kid to be allowed to make weekly payments, it’s not quite clear who the more nervous and shaken party is. What makes the character of Derek so valuable are the conversations he has around the neighborhood about what it means to be Italian, what it means to be tough, and what it means to be a man. Through it all, Balletto seems to be serving as a role model on all three counts, and Derek’s transformation over the course of the story is the tale of someone who seemed to be heading for jail or worse recognizing that setting high goals for yourself and working hard to achieve them is probably the toughest and most “manly” thing anyone can do.
Heartwarming lessons and all, Sweet Dreams is still a boxing film, and the heart of the drama is provided by Balletto’s dreams of glory as he punches his way through a series of increasingly more challenging opponents. Balletto finally gets the challenge he’s looking for—and a chance at the big time—when he squares off against former WBC featherweight champ Gregorio “Goyo” Vargas in front of a local crowd in Providence’s biggest boxing match in fifteen years. Win, lose, or draw, Balletto has already proven himself. He’s a fighter with a heart that seems to have been handed down from another era, a loving husband and father in a manner that could perhaps be summarized as “drop the machismo, and be a man,” and an effective spokesperson for justice in a sport that so desperately needs more like him. Sweet Dreams is an ambitious, brilliantly executed film, and one which left me wondering, after all the human drama and exhilarating ring action, what I could do, as a boxing fan, to contribute to the struggle of making justice and respect for boxers not just a dream, but reality.
There will be a showing of Sweet Dreams on February 5th at 8:00 in New York City as part of the Stranger Than Fiction documentary film festival. Director Eric Scott Latek will be on hand to talk about the making of the film. For more information, please visit www.ifccenter.com. For anyone interested in obtaining a DVD copy of Sweet Dreams, please contact Phantazma Pictures at: contact@phantazmapictures.com
Jason Rhodes is a free-lance writer from Athens, Georgia. His current project is a book called Worlds of Pain: Prison, Boxing, and the Tragedy of Clifford Etienne. He can be reached at jasonrhodes71@yahoo.com