Review of The Fighter (2010) by Diego T — 08 Aug 2014

Once again, David O. Russell has affirmed his uncanny ability to carry a movie, regardless of the story. The Fighter, another wonderful installment in this soon-to-be-legendary director's remarkable filmography, is one of the best-scripted, well-acted, and powerfully shot films of the 2000s decade, on par with other recent greats such as 50/50 or In Bruges in some respects. Every performance in this film is infectiously great, the plot is strong and features a powerful twist halfway through (which I am going to spoil, so don't read any further if you haven't seen the movie), and the cinematography is excellent. In short, it's a David O. Russell film.

The Fighter plays out like a re-imagining of Good Will Hunting, and it appropriately stars Matt Damon's evil twin, Mark Wahlberg, as the titular character. Wahlberg plays Micky Ward, a down-and-out boxer trying to get ahead in life and simultaneously live up to the tremendously low bar set by his older brother (Christian Bale), who won a match with Sugar Ray Leonard once and has now become a raging crack addict. Wahlberg has never impressed me much, but he was certainly better than average in this film, and even if he didn't quite carry the movie, he didn't have to either. This is thanks mostly to Bale, who I used to think was bland and boring, but has now proven himself to me with a string of tour de forces in this, American Hustle, and American Psycho. His unsettling, twitchy character garnered him a Best Supporting Actor win, and although he probably had a lot of fun playing the part, it's not one of those performances where the actor is clearly enjoying it more than the audience.

The supporting cast is spectacular as well, and although they will undoubtedly disgust you a lot, they'll charm the hell out of you just as much. Amy Adams (who isn't a great actress) fills the role of Ward's girlfriend with poise and a great accent-- Joseph Gordon-Levitt should have taken lessons from her when he made Don Jon. Ward's family is white trash, which some audience members will have a tough time getting past, but they do have their moments. The group of sisters is hilarious and terrifying at the same time, with each one uglier than the next, and all of them nodding in unison whenever their control freak of a mother makes a statement. Sure, they're a group of nasty little troll-like creatures. But they're still family.

But Bale's story arc is what really makes this movie. After telling everyone in his family that he's in an HBO documentary on his comeback, he turns on the TV only to find that the special is on crack addiction in America, and that he is the star. This is one of the most heartbreaking scenes of all time, when Bale watches the TV in prison and his face morphs into a look of horror and understanding, realizing that his family back home is watching it as well. There are two jaw-drop moments like this in The Fighter, and the other is at the end. I won't spoil it, but I will say that the conclusion to this film will have you more worried about a boxing match than you've ever been in your life (yes, even if you had money on it). Because the film is based on a true story, and most people aren't familiar with the world of boxing, the movie instills a true doubt in your mind about whether or not Ward will actually win the fight. All movies should be this tense.

Final Score for The Fighter: 8/10 stars. Easily one of Russell's best films and one of the best movies ever in general, this movie is powerful, emotional, and superbly acted. It doesn't base any of its charm on sentimentality or manipulating the audience, which I respect immensely. Instead, it shot past that cheap and easy technique and went for pure, unbridled, and raw emotion. Don't let the boxing backdrop fool you if you're not a fan of the sport: This movie is about redemption and family. Not many films these days are capable of displaying the wide range of depth that The Fighter does. In fact, three of the others I can think of are all David O. Russell films. But now that this great director has come into his own with a string of mainstream successes, we may finally see some more great drama like this in theaters. And that makes every flaw in this film worth it.

Oh, and Jed Groff's friend plays Ward's daughter, so when you get to the "A NEW APARTMENT! YAAAY!" part, pause it.