As a welterweight from the wrong side of the tracks, Irish-American Dicky Eklund is the pride of working class Lowell, Massachusetts. Living in his shadow is his half-brother and sparring partner Micky Ward. After fighting Sugar Ray Leonard, Eklund plunges into a nightmare of crack addiction, violence and prison. His family's hopes are crushed in the wake of Dicky's decline. Like a real life Rocky, Micky fights on his own terms and pulls his family out of despair with his meteoric rise in the ring. Freshly paroled Dicky finds redemption training his little brother, now known as "Irish" Micky Ward, for his Welterweight Championship bout with Shea Neary. (Wikipedia)
It's such a rarity to find a film that fully satisfies your appetite. There is so much passion that goes into this film that it just oozes out. It is quite evident that each character puts 120%, because every nook and cranny is believable.
After awhile one begins to wonder how many boxing movies can one make and they still be good. But where The Fighter steps away from the pack is with the fantastic direction of David O. Russell. He is able to use the camera in a way that still has the indie flick feel of free-moving and hand-held, gritty quality to it, all of this just adds energy the film, its like igniting a wildfire. The film also wastes little time taking full control of your attention. Trust me when I say that your eyes are glued to the screen until the end credits start rolling and even then you get a little surprise then too.
Christian Bale is the type of actor that has got some serious acting skills. He is so believable that you get sucked in and fail to realize that he is playing someone else. With this role he is bound to get recognized and better yet nominated, and if not shame on the Academy! And not to far behind is Micky Ward played by Mark Whalberg. Now he may be the lead actor, but Bale steals the shine in this one for me. Whalberg to me with this role increases his acting maturity with this role. His training and preparation shines through as he emotes the true face of a fighter just trying to make it ... for himself!
Then you have folks like Amy McAdams (Charlene Fleming) who sneak up on you with a breath-taking performance. I even felt a little scared of her, girlfriend didn't play! And the highlight of the film was Micky and Dicky's "ghetto" and nosy sisters (yes these chicks was hood and ghetto). But trust me when I say they get what they deserve...big time!!
The Fighter is a knock-out punch!! And to think this is basically a conventional script that becomes elevated by superior directing and acting along with some exciting performances. One could say that this film was filled with a high-class group of acting professionals who put their heart and soul into this one, and it definitely should be rewarded.
I don't typically give out 4 stars often but this one made it easy for me to make that decision. The Fighter works two-fold in that it tells the story of fighting in the ring and fighting for survival. It gets no better!
Ratings: 4 out of 4
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