Review of The Fighter (2010) by Allen G — 31 May 2013

The strong performances give this enough but its far from special, in fact I found it to be pretty average and somewhat of a disappointment.

My main issue is with the leading role- Wahlberg is right for the part but the part isn't right for the film- it may be true to the real story but the fact is that we get very little from the character who is overshadowed by his brother and the rest of his family. I didn't feel a real connection with him in this one, in fact, Amy Adam's character was the only one I really felt that I really thought stuck out.

Bale was great as you'd expect but his part in the film is too sparse, its clear that he isn't at the forefront of this story and the film suffers as a result. Everytime it really gets into Dicky's story, which is when I enjoyed the movie best, it moves back to Mickey sitting at the sideline while everyone else struggles for control over him. He takes control of his own destiny in the end but its not the success that it should be- too much had been given to other characters and the predictability of near enough the whole film really made for an unimpressive experience.

It simply doesn't feel like a classic movie- certainly not a classic boxing movie or drama that's for sure. I doubt it was going for something like that anyway- it had more of a charm which was one of the real strong points- it was a funny and sweet film at times between the intensity of the boxing scene and that was a refreshing change from the norm. In comparison to what Raging Bull achieved though- it's nothing.

The acting also was above the normal but everything else felt fairly typical- I mean how far did this film really go? We get a drug addict whose head we never get inside- instead its usually just people saying "better get Dicky", "where did Dicky go" - I was asking myself the same thing and simply cutting to him jumping out of a window in a crack house doesn't explain to me what makes his character tick- the documentary scene should have answered that but there wasn't enough of it- the film was too busy covering other bases that Bale's admissions were literally left in the background. Then Dicky makes his recovery, largely out of screen and then suddenly its about him again as it was at the start- but we've missed the middle, where the real juice is- Dicky returns to steal the spotlight from Mickey, there's just such a mismatch throughout, there's too much emphasis on the contrasts between the brothers and not enough on what they share- its that bond that ultimately makes this film so where on Earth is it? Their fight scene should have given us that but again, the attention was elsewhere, on the mother this time who was mostly just frustrating for me along with Mickey's sisters- there was no reason for them to be so prevalent in a film that already has so many interesting characters to work with.

Everything about this is solid and that's an achievement considering some of the more curious and personal aspects of this film but none of it is more than that- absolutely nothing in this made me feel like I was watching something that had a real message. I don't mean to compare this with Raging Bull so much as that is a bit unfair but DeNiro gave me more in one scene that any of this film gave me.

The Fighter tells a story that I already knew and it delivers it solidly and with good-intentions but without any real gusto showing that it wanted to convey emotion. Again, none of this is the fault of the actors and that's the main cause of my frustration- why on Earth were Bale and Wahlberg being chopped about? I've no doubt that they both handle their characters perfectly but the movie didn't give either of them what they needed to truly succeed- Dicky's decision to put his brother first is his moment and its a good one for sure but its too realistic, in his moment of becoming a new man he mostly just attacks Charlene and its hard to ever really care much for the character in the end- his last scene with his child is one in which he is punching a locker in rage and his child then follows suit- that's not a convincing message for how Dicky will wind up but he is far from the bad guy here either. Mickey's moments lie within the ring and all of the fighting scenes are superbly done and very powerful but his moments shouldn't be in the ring when all of troubles clearly lie outside of it- its Dicky that makes the decision here, not his brother- the spar between them at the gym did not convince me in the slightest that Mickey had taken control of his own destiny.

This is why Charlene was the most successful character for me- she is side-by-side with Mickey for a large part of the film and, quite simply- Adams steals the scenes and I feel for her character more than Mickey's. Charlene is also the one who accepts Dicky's terrible attempt at calling a truce- she decides that, she is the one that places trust in Dicky and Mickey together- no-one else here does. There was enough for two films here- one for Dicky and one for Mickey- there's more of this story to be told from each perspective and simply concentrating on one of them would give us a clearer picture- it may not be as true to what happened- but its truer to the emotions that the brothers felt.

I could go on for a while with this one but I've said enough and considering the massive success of this movie, I'm likely taking a side that it'd never be able to fully-convince people of. I'm pleased Bale was recognised here but it's no more of a performance than he gives in many other movies, movies where the character is at the forefront rather than pushed to the side whenever necessary. I'm no fan of Wahlberg but this part was great for him and he does well but again- he isn't at the heart of this either. For me the heart lies with Amy Adams and that's certainly not what the film was going for.

It's not a bad film but it was nothing close to what it could, and should, have been. Take what Ebert said on this one but give it a fresh rating instead of his' Rotten and you've pretty much got my views on this one.