The Fighter

A documentary crew is following Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale) and his half-brother Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg). Dicky is a crack-addicted shadow of himself still living off of his fight with Sugar Ray Leonard. Micky is a punching bag for better fighters on their way up. He's trained by Dicky and managed by their mother Alice Ward (Melissa Leo). Micky is taken by bartender Charlene Fleming (Amy Adams). When Micky's opponent drops out, he's paired with a fighter with 20 lbs on him. Micky is resistant but Alice and Dicky pushes him into the fight.

Christian Bale delivers an incredible performance that is matched by the great Melissa Leo. Both deservedly win their Oscars. The family dysfunction is crazy compelling. Amy Adams is also great. Wahlberg is a bit stiff but that's probably due to the amazing acting happening all around him. The movie is surprisingly funny. When the girls rush over to Charlene's house, girl fight and hilarity ensues. The only limiting thing are the boxing sequences. They're not the best but that's not the focus of the movie.

Does David O. Russell's 'The Fighter' follow the formula of underdog surpassing all obstacles and winning in the end (as is the case with this genre)? The answer is yes but 'The Fighter' still manages to maintain a unique quality. First of all, the four principle characters: Micky, Dicky, Charlene and Alice are unlike anyone one has seen in this kind of film.

They are wonderfully defined and the actors who portray them are cast against type and turn in their finest performance. Both Melissa Leo and Amy Adams are like you've never seen them before and they appear very natural on screen. Mark Wahlberg is superly restrained and Christian Bale does one of his best works of his entire career. They are supported by a host of impressive actors.

In addition to the marvelous performances, the makeup department has done a remarkable job, especially by making Leo look old enough to play Bale and Wahlberg's mother. Bale actually does look years older than Wahlberg (when in reality he's a year younger) and that just adds more to the authenticity.

From the opening sequence, I was under the impression that 'The Fighter' was going to be a documentary-type movie but O. Russell tricks and surprises the audience with that. His execution is subtle unlike the loud approach which other directors commonly follow.

For me 'The Fighter', is more about the human connection than the sports itself. Boxing is clearly a metaphor as is the title which has multiple meanings. Even though he's been constantly let down by his family, Micky chose to give them a second chance and have them by his side. Even though Charlene disapproves Alice and Dicky's involvement in Micky's career, Dicky attempts to persuade her because he knows that Micky won't stand a chance without her by his side. Even though Alice and Charlene don't see eye to eye, there's a silent acceptance between them as they know that Micky needs them both.

I am really beginning to have more respect for Mark Wahlberg for producing gems like this (in addition to some amazing TV-series like 'In Treatment', 'Boardwalk Empire' and 'Entourage') and his growth as an actor is obviously apparent (he just needs to avoid tripe like 'The Happening' at all costs).

'The Fighter' is a winner on various levels.

After Rocky, Raging Bull, Ali, Million Dollar Baby, Cinderella man, and many others, one begins to wonder how many more boxing movies we really need in the world, and what a new one can bring to the table. Indeed, watching The Fighter, one can't help but wonder what the film can do to renew the genre and bring something new to the table. Unfortunately, the answer is "nothing much". The script is a pretty conventional rags-to-riches story, whose most interesting element is the relationship between Micky Ward and his brother, Dickie Eklund. Luckily, Russell and company recognized that this was the strongest aspect of what is otherwise a good but ordinary and somewhat flawed script, with some problems with flat characterizations and unnatural-sounding dialogue. However, everyone involved in the film tries their best to transcend the script, and for the most part, they succeed.

Russell's direction is absolutely fantastic. His use of the camera – which still has that indie looseness, free-moving and hand-held and gritty quality to it, which really adds to the atmosphere and energy the film tries to capture. His staging of scenes is fantastic and he usually just lets his actors riff off of one another, sometimes sticking to the script but sometimes talking over one another, interrupting, and creating a very dynamic back-and- forth that further lends to the realistic quality of the film and its setting. A fantastic rock- oriented soundtrack only adds to this energy and atmosphere. In terms of bringing something new to the table of boxing movies, Russell employs a very interesting technique of filming the boxing scenes as they were shown on HBO pay-per-view TV in the 90's; cheap video quality, multi-camera set-ups, the whole package. The boxing scenes were all shot over 3 days, which left the crew just enough time to run through one boxing match at a time and just shooting it as if it were an actual match, the cameras capturing everything, including mistakes and mess-ups and spontaneous, uncontrolled occurrences which yet again add to the very loose and realistic style the film attempts to capture. It is a very interesting and unique technique I have not seen used before, and I thought it was a fresh approach to boxing scenes, which have become very conventional ever since Raging Bull.

Ultimately, though, this is a movie about two brothers and their overcoming demons and obstacles in order to succeed and reach their mutual goal, together. Being a character-based film, the success of the acting is a key to the success of the film, and luckily, it is in this field that the film succeeds the most. Mark Wahlberg is adequate in the lead role of Micky Ward. I have never thought much of him as an actor and think that he did an "okay" job on this film; not bad but not particularly noteworthy. However, his supporting cast all shine, and his chemistry with them, especially with Christian Bale, is really what sells the movie for me. Bale's achievement is nothing short of revolutionary. He completely steals the show as Micky's crack-addicted older brother and trainer, a former boxer himself, and a shadow of his old self, except he can still throw one hell of a punch and knows just what Micky needs to do in order to succeed. Bale completely embodies the role and really gives it his all – both in his appearance (hollow cheeks, bulgy eyes, balding) but also in his bravura performance. It is an incredible feat of acting, one of the best I have seen all year; Bale's best work as an actor yet, and totally deserving of all the accolades it will inevitably receive. Also worth mentioning though are the two main female supporting roles, namely Amy Adams as the tough and sassy but supportive girlfriend, and Melissa Leo as the overbearing mother. Both actresses are very much out of their comfort zone, which is just what makes their performances so good. Adams, who has never really shown her tough side like she does in this film, does a spectacular job, and really creates someone human and relatable out of what is otherwise an underwritten character. The same goes for Melissa Leo: her character could have gone the completely one-dimensional villainous way, but Leo adds a certain humanity to the character which just makes her seem more sad than vicious.

Ultimately, The Fighter tells a pretty conventional story in an interesting and not necessarily conventional way. It is a film that could have been over-dramatized and heavy-handed had it been put in another director's hands (see Cinderella Man for an example of over- dramatization), but Russell and his cast reign it in and set out to create a very specific atmosphere and set a particular mood that lends the film a sense of realism and a very unique dynamic energy that, with the help of the fantastic performances from the cast, help carry it above and beyond its conventional script.

Do we have a lot of sport films where the underdog ends up winning and overcoming many obstacles along the way until the end? Definitely. Does The Fighter succeed? Very much so...

For a film like this it is very difficult to make it completely unpredictable, yet while The Fighter is in a way conventional, it is also unpredictable many times. It has great characters to boot, but also a strong cast that is willing to give it their all. This is the best ensemble cast of the year,, many amazing performances. First, I start off with Mark Wahlberg, who has been the most under the radar, but he is definitely up for this. He is a great lead and I am surprised he was as good as he was. I am also very pleasantly surprised by Amy Adams. Not to say she is a bad actress, but I was always used to her roles all being similar and now she is in a completely different role for her, and to say she succeeds is an understatement. She is excellent, and is only made strong when sharing the screen with any other actor. Melissa Leo is also great, and I think she is on par with Adams. The difference between Adams and Leo is that Leo has the more award-baity role. Now we have Christian Bale, who I do think is the best. I have seen his performances and while he has always been good, he has never truly risen above others in his films, here he does. He is excellent, and he as of now deserves that Oscar.

David Russel's direction is part of what makes this film so great, He soars scenes to unbelievable heights and I think that the screenplay in another director's hands would have came out with a merely good film. But here, we have an excellent film, perhaps better than 2008's The Wrestler, and one of the best films of the year.

"O the joy of the strong-brawn'd fighter, towering in the arena in perfect condition, conscious of power, thirsting to meet his opponent." Walt Whitman

Mark Wahlberg has achieved a career high with The Fighter, not so much for his acting, which is eclipsed by a supportive cast that would be hard to beat in the Oscar race, but because he fought for years to bring the story of Lowell, Mass. to the screen. He caught perfectly the blue-collar town's karma and their devotion to the fighting brothers, "Irish" Mickey Ward (Wahlberg) and Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale).

Director David O. Russell has assembled this cast around the idea that a town in the shadow of Boston can become world famous as its sons become winners in the ring. But then, Stallone did more for Philadelphia as Rocky, so what's the big deal? Like Ben Affleck's excellent thriller this year about Boston in The Town, Fighter captures place and struggle in equal dramatic measure as filmmakers take a close look at the working class's struggles over the last 30 years. While Million Dollar Baby (2004) focused on trainer and fighter and Cinderella Man (2005) gave a microscopic view of a troubled fighter and his small family, The Fighter does all of that with a vigor as exhausting as a bout itself.

The Fighter is not just about boxing because as in Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull (1980), it's all about people who find in the sport a way to transcend their social prison. In The Fighter, it is more even about family, which weighs heavily on Micky's success or failure. And outside family as well, for girlfriend, bartender Charlene Fleming (Amy Adams), is a formidable force in liberating Micky from the suffocating family (his five harpy sisters and domineering manager mother, Melissa Leo, fearsome in her cigarette smoke and driving vision for her sons). Unlike other boxing films, Fighter is patient with Micky's long climb to success, almost painfully long but rewarding in the reality of its prolonged struggle.

But it's also the acting that distinguishes it: Christian Bale as Dicky transforms himself again by losing weight and morphing into a manic brother who loves Micky despite Dicky's negative life of drugs and mania; Amy Adams is believable as the gritty but beautiful girl friend; and Melissa Leo plays mom like a lady Macbeth in tight Dockers.

Although there will be heavier films competing for 2010's Oscar, I can't think of another whose cast so eloquently has caught the poverty and riches of a town caught in boxing fever.