The French/Thai coproduction CHOK DEE: THE KICKBOXER dramatizes the real-life story of champion kickboxer Dida Diafat, who stars as a thinly disguised version of himself in the character of Ryan. While serving time in prison for a petty crime, Ryan meets a fellow inmate and former boxer, Jean (Bernard Giraudeau), who introduces his young protégé to the art of kickboxing and persuades him to seek out a world-famous training academy in Thailand. Once in Bangkok, Ryan is denied admittance due to his French heritage and sets out to prove himself in a stirring, ROCKY-like mix of up-by-your-bootstraps character drama and hardhitting kickboxing action sequences.