Here is yet another movie review. While it has been a thin year for great movies, The Fighter is likely to be one of the 10 Best Picture nominees. Its principal cast members — Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams (and perhaps even Melissa Leo) — are almost certain to get nominated. Not a typical boxing movie, The Fighter is a winner.
The Fighter (Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo) – Boxing movies have been popular for decades. The best of the genre include Raging Bull, Rocky, The Great White Hope and Ali which, among them, earned three Oscars and countless nominations, including acting nods for each of the principle actors and actresses (but not for Sylvester Stallone). The Fighter certainly plays true to that genre and should come with Oscar nominations as well.
This is the story of “Irish” Mickey Ward, a good but not great welterweight who idolized his older brother, Dicky, who had knocked down but not beaten Sugar Ray Leonard in a title shot. Indeed, The Fighter is based on a true story with Mark Wahlberg as Mickey and an almost emaciated Christian Bale as Dicky. They are very close. Dicky trains Mickey but is now just a drug-addicted, punch-drunk punk who still reigns as the “pride of Lowell (Massachusetts).” Mickey can take a punch; he takes a lot of them. A notorious slow starter, he comes alive late in his fights after taking a beating and wearing down his opponent.
As you would expect, he eventually gets a title shot but it is the journey to there that makes this is an engrossing tale and family drama. The Wards’ boxing careers are a family affair with mom, Alice (Melissa Leo in a perfect performance), serving as agent and her husband and daughters serving as groupies. The insular nature of the family both smothers Mickey and insulates Dicky while providing an odd sort of grounding for everyone involved.
Mark Wahlberg received a Golden Globe nomination for best actor and might get an Oscar bid, too, which would be his second (the first was his fantastic portrayal in The Departed). Not only did he work four years to bring this film to the big screen but he has also become friends with the real Mickey Ward. In the ring, he looks like a fighter and is in fantastic shape. Apparently, he trained up to three hours a day for The Fighter, even while filming other movies. As impressive as that is, Christian Bale’s weight loss to become Dicky is almost scary, particularly given his buffed look in the Batman movies and The Prestige. His Academy Award nomination is a certainty. Mickey’s rise from mediocrity is buoyed by a new trainer, promoter, and agent when Dicky lands in jail in the wake of a family split caused in part by Mickey’s relationship with Charlene (Amy Adams in a great performance against type). She is an underachieving bartender who believes in Mickey and helps him gain some perspective on the dysfunction of his family and his need for more professional management. This all-star cast creates an ensemble not unlike Rocky, where the story outshines the action in the ring. It might even be enough to earn the film, which is photographed gray and dark, as one of the 10 Best Picture nominees.
Even if you are not a boxing fan, don’t miss the movie. While it is full of pugilistic scenes (but not overly graphic), it is far more than a “guy flick.” Don’t miss it.