Fighter
Before the sport of boxing self-destructed under the weight of its own corruption and was replaced by the (rapidly dying in its own right) phenomenon of MMA, the fact remains that the sport had a rich history spanning over a century, and this 2010 film relays one of its last great stories, about the boxer “Irish” Micky Ward from Lowell Massachusetts, who aspired to become a boxer because of his older half brother Dicky Ekland, who in 1978 had fought a fight against the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard in what was expected to be a “steppingstone” fight for Leonard but instead turned out to be an all-out war that went the distance, with Ekland even getting a (disputed) knockdown on Sugar Ray, that ensured that Dicky was to be a local living legend in his hometown in his own right. Unfortunately, Dicky’s prospects went downhill due to an ever-growing crack addiction and penchant for petty crime, but his younger sibling still considered him a guiding light who trained with him and worked his corner as well. The film stars Mark Wahlberg as Micky and Christian Bale as Dicky, and relates how as Dicky’s life went on a downward spiral, so did Micky’s in-ring career, with a string of losses while his brother went off to prison, before both of them cleaned up their acts, with Dicky getting off drugs and Micky dumping his domineering mom who served as his manager, but had no business sense and no couth to properly sustain herself in the cutthroat world of the sport, and eventually leading to both of them finding redemption with Micky going on to have a Hall Of Fame career with his brother at his side. In terms of performances, while Wahlberg is good, there’s just no comparison to the work done here by Bale, who again physically transforms himself this time into a pathetic crackhead and leaves no traces of the man that has also recently played Batman and John Connor, winning his first Oscar in the process and cementing himself as perhaps THE greatest actor of this generation. Also in the cast are Amy Adams showing tremendous range as Micky’s girlfriend who sets him on the right path and gives him the courage to stand up to his lower class family who try to drag him down. While many know Adams as the ultimate Disney Princess from Enchanted, here she plays a much more earthier character, foul-mouthed and tattooed but still knowing what’s best for her in her life and Micky’s. We also get Melissa Leo, (whose foul-mouthed Oscar speech was more memorable than her performance) as the chain-smoking mother who rules over her household consisting of her six (grown) daughters who’ve all eschewed the idea of having a husband or boyfriend and instead hang around to form a sort of grotesque white trash Greek chorus. Nonetheless, the story is driven by having just that one shot, that one chance at redemption that the two brothers seek, and even if you’re partially familiar with the real life story (as I am mostly through the HBO documentary Life On Crack Street which profiled the real Dicky), the emotional resonance of watching the rise to the top of the boxing ranks of Micky, whom it turns out truly feels that his screwed-up, cracked-out brother is nonetheless his inspiration through thick and thin, is certainly potent, and results in one of the best dramas of that year, and is a must-see for those that appreciate great acting, especially from Bale…
9/10