Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The Fighter, 2010 (Grade A)

Director: David O Russell
Any Awards?  Bale & Leo won Golden Globes and the movie has been nominated for lots more -- deservingly so, I might add.  Time will tell if it will win any more.
Cast: Mark Walhberg; Christian Bale; Amy Adams; Melissa Leo; Jack McGee; Melissa McMeekin; Bianca Hunter; Erica McDermott; Dendrie Taylor

Plot: Mark Wahlberg gets himself all buff to play the part of the boxer "Irish" Mickey Ward and Christian Bale plays his half brother and trainer Dicky Eklund.  It is a classic "fighter's rise from the working-class" -- this working class located in Lowell, Mass. Eventually he becomes a world-class welterweight contender--see the movie if you want to know if he wins.  After a string of defeats, Mickey rediscovers his fighting will with help from Dicky -- a once-talented pugilist battling drug addiction. 

sez says: maybe this should be renamed "It takes a village of idiots to train a boxer" That is not a joke.   Granted, it is about many other things too: It is about family--and suggests that even the most dysfunctional family operates in powerful and, sometime, wonderful ways. It is about how a focused goal can be what is needed to redeem a life.  It is about being working class Irish in Massachusetts.  It drags in places--but all-in-all it is a much better than average is Boxer Story--mostly becasue the acting is outstanding.  And the battalion of sisters...well they are unforgettable.

mjc says: brilliant performances by Bale & Leo. this in  spite of the fact taht I doubt that the world really needs another fight movie  

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