The Fighter

Director: David O. Russell
Writers: Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams
Release Date: December 10, 2010
Length: 1 hour 46 minutes

Mark Wahlberg takes on the compelling true story of championship boxer Mickey Ward, as the main producer as well as starring in the title role. Wahlberg went through a long, complicated struggle to get this film made and done in a way to really give Ward’s story justice. In 1991, Ward was living in Lowell, Massachusetts, fighting low profile matches set up by his manager mother (Melissa Leo) and one hit wonder half brother, Dicky Ecklund (Christian Bale), who took down Sugar Ray Leonard in the boxing ring 15 years ago. Dicky is referred to as “The Pride Of Lowell” despite his current cocaine addiction everyone chooses to ignore. Tired of losing fights and his constant unreliable brother, Micky begins training professionally with encouragement from his girlfriend, Charlene (Amy Adams). Soon though, it becomes difficult to keep family separate from business when he remembers his brother has taught him everything he knows. This Fighter is not a sports epic of a film. There is no exaggerated or overdramatic family troubles or rough childhood. Everything you see in the movie seems genuinely real. Of course, a lot of this movie revolves around his family, much more so than the actual sport of boxing but it is done in a subtle authentic way that isn’t shoved in your face to make you think his life is so hard when it isn’t. This is a bona fide, humorous, touching depiction of an inspiring true story with groundbreaking performances. No one would ever guess that Christian Bale is a Welsh actor from seeing this movie. Bale portrays Dicky Ecklund as a good-for-nothing egotistic coke addict who also loves his brother more than anything. If it’s the way Bale walks or the way he speaks or just his physical presence on screen, you forget that this is the same actor we saw play the stone faced Bruce Wayne just two years ago in The Dark Knight. This is a rare exceptional performance similar in a way to Jeremy Renner’s in The Town, where the second hand man or sidekick steals the whole entire movie. Bale, believe it or not, did not steal the entire film. He shared it, not with Wahlberg who is the star, but with actress Melissa Leo who portrayed Dicky and Micky’s mom, Alice. Not many movies come out in a year with a real knockout performance. The Fighter amazingly enough manages to include two of the best performances of the entire year. Melissa Leo plays the judgmental, confident, slightly ignorant mother of the two boys. She manages to capture the same unexplainable essence that Bale captured, where we dislike her character for who she is but love her for how much she cares for Micky. She also adds surprisingly constant humor to the film that makes the movie so enjoyable all around. There are only three or four scenes in this film that made me laugh but during those scenes, I couldn’t stop laughing. The slight humor added makes the film well rounded and you know you truly loved it because you enjoyed it on more than one level. Amy Adams is also very funny in the film as Micky’s strong willed girlfriend and Mark Wahlberg carries the film as the protagonist very well.  The screenwriters focus the plot of The Fighter entirely on Ward’s personal life, which makes for such a unique sports biopic. Sometimes you forget about this theme of sport in the film because it’s just a well-told story of a family. It may have taken five years for Wahlberg to get this endearing movie made the right way but I hope he’s patting himself on the back right now because it was completely worth it. Director David O. Russell nails every part of this movie to the ground and there is nothing left to have a resistance to. As one of the best films of the year and one of the most incredible sports films of all time, you would seriously be missing out if you didn’t see The Fighter.