The Fighter Review

"BOO BOO, WHERE'D YOU PARK THE FUCKIN' CAR?" - Dickie Eklund, I think it's my favorite line in the movie.

Movies are so impressive these days that its hard for me to decide which ones I think will be up for awards. The Fighter immediately looked good to me from the trailers. It looked like a good part for Mark Wahlberg, and Christian Bale definitely seemed intriguing. I guess I just wasn't expecting it to be Oscar caliber. I've watched it now, and I can say that it was. Totally.

Like every proud American, I watched The Rocky movies quite a few times as a kid. Those were always great flicks, and I guess as a result I've always been endeared toward boxing movies. Now, I'm no sports fan, but I imagine if I were to watch a sport it would be boxing. That being said, The Fighter is as good as Rocky in terms of a boxing movie. Because it does what Rocky did, and Ali and Raging Bull: it was about the boxer, not his fights necessarily. And it did it well.

The film follows Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), a welterweight boxer from Lowell, Massachusetts. Micky has not had many big fights, has lost most of the ones he has had, and is considered a 'stepping stone' for better fighters by most people. He has a lot of reputation to back up being a fighter, seeing as how his brother, Dickie Ecklund (Christian Bale) was a former boxer who once knocked down 'Sugar Ray' Leonard in a televised fight; an event which the people of Lowell, and Mickey's family, remember highly and proudly. With those kind of expectations on his shoulders, Micky feels the heat and is considering giving up the sport. And why shouldn't he? His mother (Melissa Leo) is a controlling self proclaimed manager who probably sees Micky's fighting career as a way to jump start the burned out Dickie's comeback career. Dickie Ecklund has his own subplot in which his attempts to help his brother are sabotaged by his drug addiction and self destructive behavior. Micky's only silver lining seems to be Charlene (Amy Adams), a fiercely tough bartender and his new love interest who encourages him to break away from his family and set out on his boxing career himself. With this combination of underdog story and the amazing family drama at the center of it, The Fighter is solid.

I will get the behind the camera stuff out of the way quickly, as I really want to get into the story and characters. This film is directed by David O. Russell, a very cool director who has previously directed the awesome Three Kings, as well as I Heart Huckabees (both starring Wahlberg). This may be his best film yet, though I still love Three Kings. He creates an atmosphere here that is hard to deny. All of these people seem real, and their situations are never really implausible. The writing by Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, and Eric Johnson is witty, endearing, and sharp. The camerawork during the fight scenes is really cool too. Also, I will say there aren't many fights in the movie, but when they are they too feel real. This movie has an '80s training montage that training montages from the '80s would envy and that is something. With that in mind, I will end off by saying this film has a badass soundtrack. Just badass.

Now the fun part.

2010 was like a freaking explosion of some of the best characters to grace cinema in awhile. And all of these characters had actors that could back them up and back them up well. Let's start off with our hero, Micky. Micky is an immediately relatable character, especially if you are a little brother (like I am). Every little brother gets the feeling sometimes that they aren't as good or as greatly appreciated as their older brother. Usually that is just feeling. In Micky's case, it is the truth. Though he is strong and kind, he is also repressed and downtrodden. He fights to spend time with a daughter in his ex's custody, loses just about every fight he is in, and his family prefers a crackhead over him; so yeah, he doesn't have a lot to be happy about. Mark Wahlberg, a good actor who does not ever get enough credit, plays this kind of role convincingly and sincerely. Either through quiet subtleties or angered venting, Wahlberg puts Micky's emotions on the sleeve.
Now for the big show, Christian Bale as Dickie. Bale is famous for being a method actor, a chameleon who can just kind of become a role physically and mentally. He does it again here. Dickie at first seemed like a total goofy, darkly comic relief character (like a buddy in an Adam Sandler movie); see line at the top. From right off, you can see why people like Dickie so much. He's a likable guy, funny, light hearted, tries to be respectful. And, hey, he did knock down Sugar Ray Leonard, which is more than anyone else from Lowell can say, I suppose. He is also sadly and morosely portrayed as a total drugged out screw up who coasts through life on charm and reputation. Even if he is a pretty pathetic junkie, he's not a bad person and he cares for his family. Bale also does that weird thing where he changes his body for the role. When we first see Dickie (because he is the first thing we see) he looks like some freak they found on the street: wild eyed, rotten teeth, balding, very animated and hyper, and with an almost unintelligable Massachusetts accent. Needless to say, Christian Bale had earned his oscar and is one of the greatest actors working right now.
The other powerhouse in this film is Melissa Leo as Alice Ward, the boys controlling mother. Leo is an actress who has been working for awhile in a lot of independent films or highly raved dramas (21 Grams, for example.) She has always been an effective and honest actress, but here is a really touching and exciting role. Alice is a bitch for the majority of the film. She is often domineering, untrusting, paranoid, and selfish. But no one is really a villain in this film. Alice isn't a bad person, it's just the way she's always been and clearly needs someone to tell her what's what. She's a mother who cares for her children, wants her family to be a team, but goes apeshit if she thinks someone's trying to mess with whatever idea she has about her family. Leo is awesome in this, and yes, her oscar was also well earned. I also think I might be one of the few people in the world who liked her oscar speech; it was kind of cute.
Amy Adams was also surprising in the role of Charlene. This is because Charlene is a foul mouthed badass of a woman who knows what she wants, sees what others want, and tries to help them but knows when to help herself. Adams usually plays sweet, wholesome, almost mousy characters. So this was very fun. She's still Amy Adams, and being that she is, she was terrific in this role. If there was ever a great woman behind a great man in movies, it's Charlene.
Other cast members I enjoyed included veteran actor Jack McGee as Micky and Dickie's father, who is probably the most stable person in this movie. Mickey O'Keefe, a Lowell policeman and Micky Ward's real life trainer, acts really well as himself in this movie, a caring figure who is insulted constantly throughout the film. 'Sugar Ray' Leonard also has a brief scene as himself in the film.
So yes, characters are ace.

The heart of this film comes from the brothers. The end credits show real footage of Micky and Dickie, and it was surprising how accurate they were portrayed in the film. Real Micky Ward has a thicker accent and isn't as soft spoken, but then again anyone can be considered soft spoken next to Dickie. The struggles these two go through, their relationship and whatever family history is behind it is what I was most interested in. How they would resolve such delicate issues was some inspiring shit.

This whole freaking movie is inspiring. It shows people at their worst and how they rise up from that. That's some American Dream storytelling for you, people. Plus, it's been awhile since we've had a good boxing movie. I mean there was Cinderella Man a few years back (which I need to see), and the first part of Black Dahlia (which you should not see; or do, because it's almost so stupid it's funny). So I'm saying this is it. A great boxing movie, a great movie in general. Now all we have to do is wait for Warrior, the UFC knockoff to come out and bury this film in a sea of hardcore assholes. I'm kidding, of course, UFC is cool too. But that movie looks lame.

This is that review I told you I'd write months ago right here on Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.