Rating:  

Closest to the Hole Productions, Fighter, Mandeville Films, Relativity Media, The Weinstein Company, and Paramount Pictures.

Written by: Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, and Eric Johnson, story by Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson & Keith Dorrington.

Countless films have been made about boxers and the world of fighting. Inherently dramatic, boxing films date back to the 1930′s, 1940′s, and 1950′s and have generally always drawn an audience and a studio’s interest. The latest big screen boxing epic, had a studio’s interest but could not get off the ground. Mired in constant developmental hell, “The Fighter” started, stopped, and started again countless times – traveling from screenwriter to screenwriter and director to director with one constant throughout the project – Mark Wahlberg.

Agreeing to take on the role of real-life fighter, “Irish” Micky Ward, Wahlberg was unwavering in his support for the project and fought hard to keep it afloat. He worked for scale, trained for years while working on other projects, and helped raise the production budget. When director Darren Aronofsky signed on, the film finally commenced pre-production, only to fall apart when Aronofsky left to tackle other projects. With Christian Bale on board, cast as Micky’s brother Dicky, Bale and Wahlberg successfully brought acclaimed director David O. Russell to the project and the rest they say is history. Wahlberg’s work was not in vain, as “The Fighter” was definitely worth the wait.

Deviating from his more eccentric indulgences, David O. Russell has told a straightforward and engrossing story of the Ecklund family – featuring two prizefighting brothers, a chorus of 7 sisters, and a mother who lords over the brood by involving herself in every manner possible of the family’s day-to-day happenings.

Wahlberg’s Micky is the younger brother to a former welterweight contender, Dicky Ecklund (Christian Bale). Ecklund, the pride of Lowell, Massachusetts, has coasted on his one moment in the spotlight. Years previously Dicky had an opportunity to fight the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard for the World Welterweight Championship and time and some cloudy memories have enabled Dicky to convince everyone, or valiantly attempt to, that Leonard’s famous fall in the fight came from Dicky’s knockdown of Leonard and not the trip and fall many, including Leonard, claim as the truth. For Dicky, things catastrophically went downhill following his loss to Leonard. Alcohol, pills, and eventually a debilitating crack addiction led to his public and personal demise and when “The Fighter” opens, a documentary film crew is following Dicky Ecklund around. Dicky is telling everyone the crew are there to document his comeback. Later on, we learn the crew is there for entirely different reasons.

As Dicky draws all of the attention, Micky has had a few fights on his own and done well for himself, even if he has not won many of them. Dicky, recognizing that he may not be ready for a fight “right now” has nonetheless become Micky’s trainer and is there, generally, for all of Micky’s sparring sessions and undercard fights. Soft-spoken and mild-mannered, Micky falls right in line with his mother and manager, Alice (Melissa Leo), Dicky’s scattered and addictive lifestyle, and a colony of seven (7!) loud and bombastic sisters who flock around Alice and her queen bee personality.

After a successful fight, sponsored by HBO, Micky crosses paths with a bartender, Charlene (Amy Adams), who immediately catches his eye. When a fight in Atlantic City nearly derails, largely due to Dicky’s lapse into a drug binge, Micky learns that his opponent is not the one he has trained for and suffers an embarrassing defeat. Micky shuns Charlene and contemplates his future. Reconnecting with Charlene, a daughter he barely sees, internalizing the frustrations of an oppressive family dynamic, and forced to deal directly with the consistent letdowns from his brother, Micky desperately seeks to make his own way in the world. Seemingly stunted at every turn, Micky tries to earn the love and trust of Charlene again. In doing so, Micky begins to emerge as a fighter both inside and outside of the ring.

At the heart of the film is not Mark Wahlberg’s effective lead performance but rather Christian Bale’s amazing turn as Dicky Ecklund. Bale is not stunt acting here, despite the massive weight loss and utilization of a Bostonian accent. He has fully realized Dicky Ecklund from inside and out and from his first appearance, mere seconds into the film, Dicky is devastating, tragic, frustrating, and yet, in his heart of hearts, someone we truly believe wants the best for Micky. The pain is there, the addiction leaking out of him. In a fine career, Christian Bale has never been better.

Wahlberg handles the intricacies of the role just fine and while I never disconnected Wahlberg from the role, he goes through the ringer here and comes out strong by the film’s end. Amy Adams shines as Micky’s love interest, a fighter in her own right – with Micky’s possessive family, his handlers, and irresponsible brother. Adams shows a grit and a moxie we have yet to see from her and she adds another great performance to a rapidly expanding list of impressive work. As the mother of the Ward/Ecklund family, Melissa Leo dominates her scenes, although regrettably I found a handful of scenes with her 7 daughters to be rather disjointed and distracting. In scenes with Bale, Adams, and Wahlberg however, Leo carries a desperation and constant worry that everything she knows – boxing, being a localized celebrity – could all slip away in a moment’s notice as Micky, and not Dicky, becomes the star.

Despite some impressively mounted and engrossing fight scenes, it becomes a nagging disappointment that “The Fighter” fails to elevate off the screen in the way the best of these underdog films always seem to. I could moan and whine about the severe liberties the screenwriters and Russell ultimately take with the true story of Micky Ward, although a decent share of Dicky’s life plays closer to the truth apparently. Ultimately what we have is a strong, entertaining and, at times, a thought-provoking look at opportunities lost, gained, taken for granted, and those we never realize are right in front of us until it is unfortunately too late.

I really liked “The Fighter” and would recommend it to most. That I didn’t find it hit the emotional heights it strives so hard for does not make it a lesser film. Rather, one that seems to have missed an opportunity.

Should I See It?

YES

Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo, and Mark Wahlberg give tremendous performances – all of them in their own way worthy of Oscar consideration.

David O. Russell embeds the viewer in the Ward/Ecklund family relationships with the same intensity as he places us in the ring for Micky’s fights. The film succeeds at being an immersive experience.

Honestly, there is a lot here to like and admire and it elicited applause from many at my pre-release viewing. To many, this will be an inspiring and moving film to watch.

NO

The film does little to mask its predictability. And if you know the true story, the film may leave you cold and indifferent.

Boxing fans will take real umbrage with the rampant liberties the film takes in telling Micky’s story.

If you dislike boxing, this is not a movie for you.

Criticism of the film being cliched and unoriginal are not without some merit.