Review: “The Fighter” is a Knockout
Based on the inspirational true story of professional boxer “Irish” Micky Ward, The Fighter has long been in the works as Mark Wahlberg persevered for four years to get the movie off the ground. After Martin Scorsese declined to direct the movie, Darren Aronofsky was hired but eventually dropped out. It wasn’t until David O. Russell came on board and Relativity Media agreed to finance the $11 million budget that production began.
Set in Lowell, Massachusetts during the 1990′s, this biographical sport story follows professional boxer Micky Ward’s (Wahlberg) struggle to revive his career. Known as a “stepping stool” for up-and-coming boxers, Micky is hamstrung by amateurish management from his opportunistic mother (the fantastic Melissa Leo). He also has to deal with the self-destructive behavior of his trainer and half-brother Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale). Once known as “The Pride of Lowell” after knocking down the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard, the egocentric Dicky is now a cocaine addict living vicariously through his younger brother. As a HBO crew follows Dicky around for what he thinks is going to be a documentary about his “comeback”, no one in his family is ready to admit how low he has fallen since his glory days. Living in the shadow of this train wreck and coming off the most embarrassing loss of his boxing career, Micky is burned out and at a crossroad.
The Fighter is a great blend of entertainment and raw story-telling. The movie explores the multitude of difficulties one has to deal with when family loyalty doesn’t necessarily aligns with your own life goals and personal well-being. Both Micky’s mother and brother are well-meaning yet dangerously delusional and completely unaware of the poisonous influence they have on him. It isn’t until Micky falls for headstrong bartender Charlene (Amy Adams) that he slowly realizes he may have to let go of his family to revive his career. David O. Russell delves in the dynamics of these relationships to unexpected depth as well as honesty and it is great to see all these interesting characters fully developed.
Although the movie is decidedly serious in its true-life themes, comedic relief is evenly peppered throughout. In an incredibly powerful scene, Melissa Leo’s character hunts down Christian Bale’s character at the crack house as he tries to escape from the back window and lands in the garbage. As they sit in the car, she cries after finally facing the fact that her son is a drug addict. He begins to sing her a song and she joins him. It is both funny and tragic at the same time and speaks of the unbreakable bond between mother and son.
Having trained for years to be able to convincingly play the part, Mark Wahlberg gives a subdued performance that is fitting given the quiet personality of the real Micky Ward. Nevertheless, he is completely overshadowed by the flashy, award-baiting performances of Melissa Leo and Christian Bale. Indeed, as the downtrodden Dickie Eklund, the triumphant Bale gives an Oscar-worthy performance that manages to be simultaneously wild, sympathetic, funny and tragic. Beyond the obvious physical transformation, the actor fully committed to losing himself in the character. It is truly a joy to see him venture back outside the perennially stoic, overly serious persona that he has become associated with.
In a supporting role, Amy Adams is nothing short of outstanding, often stealing the show in a meaty role that is so much more than just being the love interest. She has made a living of playing bubbly, cutesy characters in films such as Enchanted, Junebug and Julie & Julia. But here she is, playing a tough, complicated, no-nonsense woman and demonstrating the true extent of her acting abilities in a performance that is likely to earn her a third Oscar nomination.
At nearly two hours, the film is slightly overlong and formulaic but manages to remain entertaining throughout. The movie isn’t really as much about boxing as one may expect but the action scenes look thoroughly authentic. This speaks highly of the commitment by the actors, including Mark Wahlberg who decided to take real punches for realism’s sake. The outstanding cinematography by Hoyte Van Hoytema is gritty, and does a great job of depicting the fights as seen through a TV screen in the mid-nineties.
Highlighted by stellar performances, The Fighter is a gripping, rousing and crowd-pleasing story about family and redemption.
B+
(8/10)
Notes: Rated R for language throughout, drug content, some violence and sexuality, 115 minutes.
Oscar Chances:
- Best Picture
- David O. Russell (Best Director)
- Christian Bale (Best Actor in a Supporting Role)
- Melissa Leo (Best Actress in a Supporting Role)
- Amy Adams (Best Actress in a Supporting Role)
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28 Comments
There are just way too many films, all coming out at the same time, that I want to see before this year is up! Nice review though, confirms that my anticipation factor is justified (for now).
Yes, definitely a lot of movies out there these past few weeks. I’m going to see Black Swan on Monday and then True Grit is coming out on Wednesday. I also feel like I should see at least half a dozen more 2010 movies that I missed in theater ah!
Black Swan is my favorite of the year so far, but I haven’t seen The Fighter, True Grit, or the King’s Speech. But Black Swan was as close to perfect as it gets in my book (ended how and right when I wanted it to) so I don’t see my opinion changing much. The Fighter also suffers for me from having such a terrible trailer: “Not you, not you, and not you!”
Just saw it today. Review coming up on Tuesday!
I’m glad that David O Russell is back but now he needs to get on and make the Silver Lining Playbook. What a brillant script that was.
Excellent. I thought it was good though I had a few issues with the film.
I am so disapointed. The only major cinema chain in Sweden hasn’t even listed The Fighter on their site.
It actually premieres 28th of January in Sweden… boooo
At don’t despair Joel, you will eventually see it! What’s up with your site as of late? And when will I be able to paypal you?
Its back on track now. I have been having a stressed out time lately and also having some problems editing larger posts with thesis. I’ll get on that paypal widget between the holidays if thats ok?
I’ll be busy studying for the upcoming draft until then. =)
Ah! Great to have you back. I will mail everyone on Saturday afternoon after the Christmas dust settle
You should do a live event when you draw the picking order for the draft!
Great review…you make me more eager to see it, unfortunately, it hasn’t arrived here yet. I don’t know when will it be played here
Glad you liked it. I liked it, too. I agree that Bale and Adams are outstanding but I really thought Wahlberg, as understated as he is, was the rock of this one, the glue holding the whole thing together just like his character kinda glues that whole family together. I wish he’d get some award love.
I thought Wahlberg was solid. He didn’t need to be flashy and I’m glad he played it low-key. We both know critics, armchair critics and all other types of critics love to rave about flashy roles and completely overlook everything else.
Well said, man. Good writing (even if the story is pretty by-the-books), great acting, makes it all worth while. Hope at least one of these guys gets an Oscar (come on, Bale!)
And thanks for your comment on my site, but for some reason it got filtered into my Spam and I deleted it without thinking. I am sorry beyond belief, I hope you can forgive me one day, but whatever it said, I’m sure I wholeheartedly agree with you.
Yea it’s formulaic but it proves that a well-made movie can be pleasing even it’s been made dozens of times before.
Can you really say it’s formulaic if it’s a true story? I considered this at one point too, but it’s not like they can make Ward lose a fight he really won or something like that.
To me, it was just a story tailor-made for a wonderful film. It just happened to fit into what has become the Hollywood formula.
God, Christian Bale looks awful in that first pic – but this is a great review of a film I’m quite interested in seeing.
Thanks Rodney! Looking forward to read your take once you get to watch it.
The Oscar has got to be Bale’s.
AGREED!
i loved this movie…the cast was phenomenal
Great review. I was sold after seeing the first trailer. I like all these actors especially Adams and am glad they are doing well for themselves.
I’ve heard really good reviews about this film. I may wait until I get into a drama type mood to watch it. Nice review!
I actually think the movie itself is a bit overrated. Saw this recently and finally got around to reviewing it myself. The movie is just kinda eh. I mean, it’s decent, but nothing to write home about. The acting on the other hand, absolutely excellent. Bale has to be a shoe-in for Best Supporting Actor. Adams did great too. And let’s not forget Melissa Leo who did really well also.
As for Wahlberg, he did fine for what was expected of him, but the character himself just was not compelling enough. Granted this is due to the real-life Micky being that way, but his passive persona didn’t lend well to a lead role in a film. For this reason, just wasn’t ever really able to become emotionally invested in Ward himself. Thus, the movie wasn’t as inspiring or triumphant as it could’ve been. Couple this with the fact that it was indeed formulaic and it makes for a good movie, but nothing great. This is one simply to watch for the acting. Where the acting far outweighs the movie itself.
On top of all that, there never seems to be any real closure with this movie. Yea, he wins, great. But that’s not what this movie was about. It was about the family and personal life. To that end, it seemed like a treadmill movie — running its course, but never really getting anywhere. Beyond Bale’s character, there wasn’t any real character arc.
So….good story + mediocre writing + excellent supporting cast performances + average lead performance of a boring lead character + formulaic execution = a good movie (but not great, or even very good) with excellent acting that leaves you rather wanting and not nearly as inspired as you should be.
So can we agree that though Bale is pretty remarkable that Melissa Leo is something to behold? I mean, I love Kate Winslet and all, but that 2008 Oscar should’ve been hers, people….
A fitting tribute to a real-life Rocky and Adrian featuring a quartet of inspired performances by Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Melissa Leo and Amy Adams.
Just watched it here in Australia last night. Really enjoyed it. Excellent performances. I think Bale was irritating in the first half and went really over-the-top to chew up scenery, but after he was released from prison, he was very good. Certainly deserving of his Globe. Melissa Leo and Amy Adams were also superb. But I really liked Mark Wahlberg’s subdued performance. He was obviously living in the shadow of his brother all his life, who had charmed the town by his story of Sugar-Ray Leonard. Mickey was embarrassed that he could never have such success. Really impressive attention to character and the familial struggles that hampered his career, which made this formulaic sports biopic better than average. I thought the boxing sequences were also brilliantly shot. Would have liked to have seen some of the earlier ones extended a bit more. Better than I expected overall. Grade: B
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