The Fighter - Review
Director David O. Russell seems to be the guy who gets the best out of Mark Wahlberg. Wahlberg seemed to assimilate the concoction that made him impress to me personally in Three Kings, and while Wahlberg recently turned out astute performances in ‘Invincible’ and ‘The Lovely Bones’, it’s here he truly shines as Massachusetts boxing legend, Micky Ward!
Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson deliver a sound script but while Russell’s direction, Wahlberg’s on-screen gleam and a seductive, musical array stand out in this film, it’s really and truly Christian Bale that brings a barrage and dedicative arsenal of cinematic talent and glory that makes you leave the theatre in awe of just how good he is as he pulls off the role of Ward’s troublesome brother and trainer, Dicky Eklund! It’s raw energy, unbridled charisma and a cohesive blend of ‘an actor becoming his role’ and ‘infinite dedication’ that Bale demonstrates on screen in just under 2 hours!
This is a well-paced, dramatic story of Ward’s rise from being the town disappointment and at times laughing stock, living in the wake of his brother’s boxing shadow and problematic lifestyle, as he rises to earn an unexpected title shot that will make or break his career. It’s a truly defining story that gets all the elements right in the ‘biography’ of this boxer living in Lowell!
Ward’s journey to London is well played off with his personal life calculated to a tee, much due to the fact that Wahlberg and Bale kept a realistically close contact to Ward and Eklund during filming! It’s a brotherly love and sibling bond, not rivalry, that seeps into the audience in this film. It’s one of never forsaking family even if you have to sacrifice all that you have for them. Wahlberg delivers the goods with a charm and innocence of a man whose trials and tribulations are on tap for us all to see, and the actor bears his cross and thorny burdened crown with a true semblance to a down and out boxer on the ropes. One sees his elements that we were familiar with when he portrayed Vince Papale. That being said, the other maestro in Bale, is as cryptic and scaringly believable as he was in ‘The Machnist’, with him here in the path as Dicky Eklund, with his drug habits, maniacal (sometimes light-heartedly funny) schemes, gravely erroneous run-ins with the legal system, and an overwhelming true love for his family - all displayed with a perfection and class that made even the real-life Ward/Eklund duo stand in reverence! This Welshman is a true genius and comes off more Boston than Wahlberg at times, and that is not an easy feat.
On his way to London, Wahlberg’s character needs a crutch after the tragic state of affairs with his family and fledgling in-ring career, and Amy Adams comes in as the perfect foil in Charlene Fleming to ensure all emotional arrears are taken care of in a deeply resurrective and most-welcome manner. Adams brings a straight-up convincing and educated reality to Charlene with her unadulterated conduct and it's no secret that the look in those lovely eyes of hers show a grit and prominent threat on screen that highlights her status as one of Hollywood’s most talented and unsung actresses. Her glaring stares and exchanges with Ward’s family, particularly his sisters, are done with an effervescence that when not humorous or quippy, is unnerving and wracking with its conviction. Adams is on the pedestal when she and Melissa Leo (as Alice Eklund, mother to both Ward and Dicky) thrash it out on screen. Leo delivers a drastically relentless performance as a mother on the go. The rapport of these women on-screen(much akin to the chemistry between Bale and Adams) sears into the minds of the viewers and it truly teases in a scathing homage at the societal relationships between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law rivaling for the son's affection. Leo is wonderfully exuberant and comprehensively relatable to on the screen, a trait which all of the cast etch themselves into! Leo and Adams are truly the ingredients needed to ensure this recipe of a brilliant supporting cast is done right and they compliment Bale and Wahlberg so tightly that the fit is to a concise tee. It's also very grand to see the romantic subplot of the film proves to be a subset that does not overhaul the grand theme of Family and Loyalty in this movie's schematic.
From an all-around fun, dramatic & emotionally riveting tale of human tragedy and familial love, the theme of rising above adversity with pride, determination and pure will, as well as the undertones of a scary drug-related whisper offered on screen, all keep the true, die-hard boxing and cinema fans glued to the screen, and it’s endearing to see 2010 end for me with a purposefully shot film, an elegant script, and a profound classy movie meshed with a graceful flow on the big screen, all coupled with a cast of unending dedication. The direction never falters as we get some of the most memorable moments on screen for 2010, with a personally loved bonus in the music in this film rocking from Aerosmith to Zeppelin to Chili Peppers. Also, there’s the fact that the audience from the first second available sympathizes, empathizes and simply...fall enthralled into rooting for our protagonist and his cohorts, whether they be a positive or negative influence. Such is the proverbial power of Family. It’s as human as you get and so relatable a film – the metaphors are there to show us the true building blocks for family...and society.
You root for Wahlberg, you root for his character Ward, and if you’re a true boxing fan as me and my dad, you’re in for a hell of a ride. What makes this outstand even more, is that you don’t get just a boxing story...you get a heartwarming tale of 2 brothers, tied at the heart for things they both love – boxing – and each other. They are different sides of the coin, but the tapestry that binds their love for the sport, the canvas that sees them cut with determination and a sheer desire for success and glory and sacrifice...will expound gratuitously and gracefully on your love for true, loyal, beautiful cinematic storytelling; and this will result in the moral cloth and fibers in your film-loving spirit eating at you to the core as you bask in the performances on screen. It’s a heightened sense of accomplishment and endearment when you find yourself drawn to, and even batting for Bale in his incandescent performance that draw your eyes tight like wires as if you’re wrapped tightly at the body with the corsets of his Eklund performance drawing and strangling at you with his slithery walk and scathing hand gestures/Boston accent...this is one of the best performances of the year, if not THE best. If Denzel could nail gold for Training Day, 2010 sees this performance by Bale easily trump the impressive Ryan Reynolds’ in ‘Buried’. It’s ragingly condescending how good Bale is in this movie, and a downright shame that the Academy Awards never gave him a nod. Bale is as convincing and heartening as a character as this film is a wondrous sight to behold, and with that said, my logical algorithm well dictates ‘The Fighter’ as 2010’s Best Film. They came ready to rumble!
It's a great boxing film...and overall, a deep well-woven tale of a story...Mickey Ward and Dicky Eklund are damned right to be so proud...Good Fight...and Good Night!