As long as there have been boxers, there have been movies about them. Fulfilling the Oscar boxing movie quota for this year is The Fighter. And it wins by a unanimous decision.
The eponymous fighter is “Irish” Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), who is regarded as “a stepping stone” in the boxing world. His half-brother and trainer, Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale) once beat Sugar Ray Leonard, but now can’t stay out of trouble. His mother and manager Alice (Melissa Leo) has a tight grip on his career and even finds Micky’s romance with barmaid Charlene (Amy Adams) threatening.
After Dicky, the former “Pride of Lowell,” gets busted again, Micky decides to try some autonomy in his boxing career. With the help of Charlene, his father George (Jack McGee), trainer Mickey O’Keefe (playing himself), Micky finally rises up in the boxing world. But what about the rest of the family?
Its director is David O. Russell, whose previous film, the very-bizarre comedy Nailed, crashed and burned during production. So, what does that tell you about this film? The answer should be “a good comeback story.”
Its ensemble actors make up one of the film’s strongest points. In particular, Christian Bale’s role as Dicky is both a hilarious and affecting performance. While Dicky makes for the best character, the rest of the cast is up to the task. So much so that one can’t help rooting for Micky, and really wanting to tell Alice to go away.
Amongst the off-screen talent, there is Editor Pamela Martin. Her work on screen helps make the boxing matches quite effectively brutal, and the off-ring action as emotional as it needs to be. Along with a screenplay by four writers, David O. Russell has created a definite crowd pleaser. It surely is a winner.
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