Rated R for some violence, sexuality, language throughout and drug content
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo
Director: David O. Russell
Family ties are a tricky thing. They can be a means of strength and support, but can also be a bane to one's existence should they impede the philosophical or emotional growth of a person. This is more common than one might expect, as love breeds insecurity, which unfortunately breeds manipulation without the cognizance to control it. David O. Russell's "The Fighter" comes billed as a sports movie, and it is a sports movie. But it's also about the fall and subsequent redemption of two brothers, and how their family ties enable both their descent as well as their need to rise again.
The story is inspired by the true events leading up to small town boxer Micky Ward's surprising rise to earn a Welterweight Title fight in 1993. As the movie opens, we see half-brothers Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale in full "Machinist"-mode, looking gaunt as ever) on the streets of Lowell, Massachusetts as a camera crew tracks their every move. Dicky addresses the camera, claiming it's a documentary about his boxing comeback. (Eklund is considered the pride of Lowell, as he was a former boxing great who once knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard in a fight, though some dispute the claim, insisting Leonard slipped.) We later learn, however, that the film crew is actually taping a documentary on the effects of drug addiction. Dicky now spends his days lounging in a crack house, his glory days a mere speck in his life's rear-view mirror.
Micky is a young upstart boxer, managed by his mother Alice (Melissa Leo) and trained by Dicky, of course when Dicky isn't losing all track of time and responsibility in the crack house. Alice is not a particularly skilled boxing manager and has more or less appointed herself to the position based on her love of the sport and devotion to family. Micky is on a losing streak, so much so that he soon garners a reputation as being a "set-up" fight for other boxers to improve their own rankings. One night in a bar Micky meets a sexy, sharp-tongued young bartender named Charlene (Amy Adams) who, upon learning Micky's name, says "You're the stepping stone, right? The one other fighters use to get ahead?" Right away we realize this isn't the start of some obligatory movie romance, but the catalyst for Micky to break free from his family's influence, and take his life and potential career into his own hands. Resistance is met. Hard.
The two brothers have a slew of over-protective sisters who serve as a kind of social military force against any they believe not worthy of their brothers' attention. They immediately take a disliking to Charlene for a variety of reasons, including the fact that she went to college. To them, this means she is a party-girl. An "MTV Girl" they call her. Alice also wastes no time in packing the group into her car and driving over to Micky's apartment upon hearing the news that he has fired her as his manager. There is a neighborhood familial standoff on his porch, and punches are eventually thrown between the sisters and Charlene. To the outside observer, this is absurd behavior. But when your love runs as insanely deep as Alice's does for her children, it renders her blind to the effects her own insecurity has on her family, whether it be Micky's sagging career or Dicky's addiction.
Wahlberg holds the center of the film nicely, playing a thoughtful, introspective fighter who struggles to find the right balance between what he requires to move ahead and what he needs to stay grounded. It is, however, the least juiciest role. Christian Bale earned a most deserved Supporting Actor Oscar. His crucial moment comes during a screening of the documentary while in prison. Before it begins, he pumps up the cafeteria crowd in his usual histrionic fashion, yet once he sees his life laid bare before him on screen while (for once) no one cheers in the background, the reality is simply too much.
As Charlene, Amy Adams makes a believable source of strength and inspiration for Micky. It's hard to believe that the actress who portrayed the doe-eyed princess in "Enchanted" fits so perfectly in with the hard personalities that make up the rough streets of Lowell, Massachusetts. And Melissa Leo took home the Supporting Actress Oscar, playing a mother whose aggressive behavior forever stems from an unconditional love that others can barely comprehend.
The screenplay is by Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, and Eric Johnson. It wisely avoids any kind of grandiloquent speeches, even in moments when Micky's two worlds start to come together. I especially liked the scene where Dicky and Charlene finally have a meeting-of-the-minds (of sorts) on her porch. They put their differences aside, though they do so through a back-and-forth volley of verbal jabs. ("Let's get something straight, okay Dicky? You didn't knock down Sugar Ray. He slipped.") They eventually come to their own version of an understanding.
Overall, it's a decent movie, if not a splendid one. Both "Rocky" and "Raging Bull" set the bar unusually high for boxing films. Still, though, I admired the performances, the observations of family dynamics, and the realization that sometimes to truly honor the ones you grew up loving, you need to break free from their influence. Only then can you find your own voice, your own strength, and your own best way to love them back.
* * * out of * * * * stars
The story is inspired by the true events leading up to small town boxer Micky Ward's surprising rise to earn a Welterweight Title fight in 1993. As the movie opens, we see half-brothers Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale in full "Machinist"-mode, looking gaunt as ever) on the streets of Lowell, Massachusetts as a camera crew tracks their every move. Dicky addresses the camera, claiming it's a documentary about his boxing comeback. (Eklund is considered the pride of Lowell, as he was a former boxing great who once knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard in a fight, though some dispute the claim, insisting Leonard slipped.) We later learn, however, that the film crew is actually taping a documentary on the effects of drug addiction. Dicky now spends his days lounging in a crack house, his glory days a mere speck in his life's rear-view mirror.
Micky is a young upstart boxer, managed by his mother Alice (Melissa Leo) and trained by Dicky, of course when Dicky isn't losing all track of time and responsibility in the crack house. Alice is not a particularly skilled boxing manager and has more or less appointed herself to the position based on her love of the sport and devotion to family. Micky is on a losing streak, so much so that he soon garners a reputation as being a "set-up" fight for other boxers to improve their own rankings. One night in a bar Micky meets a sexy, sharp-tongued young bartender named Charlene (Amy Adams) who, upon learning Micky's name, says "You're the stepping stone, right? The one other fighters use to get ahead?" Right away we realize this isn't the start of some obligatory movie romance, but the catalyst for Micky to break free from his family's influence, and take his life and potential career into his own hands. Resistance is met. Hard.
The two brothers have a slew of over-protective sisters who serve as a kind of social military force against any they believe not worthy of their brothers' attention. They immediately take a disliking to Charlene for a variety of reasons, including the fact that she went to college. To them, this means she is a party-girl. An "MTV Girl" they call her. Alice also wastes no time in packing the group into her car and driving over to Micky's apartment upon hearing the news that he has fired her as his manager. There is a neighborhood familial standoff on his porch, and punches are eventually thrown between the sisters and Charlene. To the outside observer, this is absurd behavior. But when your love runs as insanely deep as Alice's does for her children, it renders her blind to the effects her own insecurity has on her family, whether it be Micky's sagging career or Dicky's addiction.
Wahlberg holds the center of the film nicely, playing a thoughtful, introspective fighter who struggles to find the right balance between what he requires to move ahead and what he needs to stay grounded. It is, however, the least juiciest role. Christian Bale earned a most deserved Supporting Actor Oscar. His crucial moment comes during a screening of the documentary while in prison. Before it begins, he pumps up the cafeteria crowd in his usual histrionic fashion, yet once he sees his life laid bare before him on screen while (for once) no one cheers in the background, the reality is simply too much.
As Charlene, Amy Adams makes a believable source of strength and inspiration for Micky. It's hard to believe that the actress who portrayed the doe-eyed princess in "Enchanted" fits so perfectly in with the hard personalities that make up the rough streets of Lowell, Massachusetts. And Melissa Leo took home the Supporting Actress Oscar, playing a mother whose aggressive behavior forever stems from an unconditional love that others can barely comprehend.
The screenplay is by Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, and Eric Johnson. It wisely avoids any kind of grandiloquent speeches, even in moments when Micky's two worlds start to come together. I especially liked the scene where Dicky and Charlene finally have a meeting-of-the-minds (of sorts) on her porch. They put their differences aside, though they do so through a back-and-forth volley of verbal jabs. ("Let's get something straight, okay Dicky? You didn't knock down Sugar Ray. He slipped.") They eventually come to their own version of an understanding.
Overall, it's a decent movie, if not a splendid one. Both "Rocky" and "Raging Bull" set the bar unusually high for boxing films. Still, though, I admired the performances, the observations of family dynamics, and the realization that sometimes to truly honor the ones you grew up loving, you need to break free from their influence. Only then can you find your own voice, your own strength, and your own best way to love them back.
* * * out of * * * * stars
