At a time when you’re spoilt for choice with the amount of good films out there (
The King’s Speech,
Black Swan,
127 Hours, etc.) some can slip under the radar, even if they don’t really deserve to do so. Luckily this hasn’t happened to
The Fighter,
David O. Russell’s boxing drama set in the depths of working-class Lowell, Massachusetts. It tells the real life tale of “Irish” Micky Ward’s formative years, struggling to make the grade before turning pro and getting his one shot at the big-time. It all sounds pretty generic, but that’s before you’ve met the family. Micky (
Mark Wahlberg) is forever in the shadow of brother Dicky (
Christian Bale), an ex-fighter that could have made something of himself had he not succumbed to the sweet, sweet charms of crack. There’s nothing wrong with a relaxing bit of crack you say? Well with consistent bouts of violence, brushes with the law and a spell in prison, it doesn’t seem to be working out too well for him. He also happens to be Micky’s trainer. Then you have the matriarch Alice (
Melissa Leo), a tough, possessive bulldog of a woman who dotes on Dicky and their gaggle of terrifying sisters whilst “managing” Micky’s career.
What seems like a classic ‘one man against the odds’ flick turns into something different, with a gritty showcase of family dynamics as Micky struggles to make something of himself under the smothering influence of his family. He meets Charlene (
Amy Adams), a straight talking college dropout turned barmaid who becomes his girlfriend and just about the only one able to give him the kick up the arse to finally get free of his poisonous relations. But they don’t like that, not one bit. Alongside his fights in the ring, Micky must simultaneously battle to assert himself with his family and take his one chance to become a champ.
Russell paints a picture of a working-class Boston neighbourhood that drips with realism, and doesn’t just resort to a ‘swear-athon’ to make it believable. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of fuck to go around, but the people, the sounds and the sights all come together to weave a wonderfully gritty tapestry. It wouldn’t be called
The Fighter without either lots of punching or some kind of metaphor, and you’ll be happy to know it’s mostly the former. The fight sequences are entertaining and well executed, and link together the superior segments of drama, which drive the narrative forward. Whilst Wahlberg does a good enough job to make us care about Micky, Bale’s Dicky *snigger* and Leo’s Alice are the ones who steal the show. Bale in particular gives us an excellent turn as a swaggering and deluded, has-been crack-head, and as usual has gone all method and lost a lot of weight to really look the part. Maybe, just maybe, I might be able to forgive him for
Terminator Salvation. The Academy certainly have, honouring Bale’s performance with his first Supporting Actor nomination. Amy Adams as Charlene does a good turn as the driving force behind the change in Micky’s life, but isn’t given the onscreen time to fully develop her character to be something outstanding. Even so, both she and Leo have also received Supporting nods, making this one of the year’s Oscar darlings. In fact the only significant role in the film not to receive critical acclaim is the lead. Marky Mark could be accused of producing a rather dull performance. However, as a very boring person myself I can sympathise. Besides, he may simply be playing a character that has faded into the background amongst a family of extroverts, which is what allows the surrounding performances to shine.
As the film builds pace and redemption looms, the fights get better (montage anyone?) and I promise you’ll be biting your nails towards the end. However,
The Fighter isn’t quite in the same league as the other titles mentioned before. Whilst excellent performances hold the film aloft, it relies too heavily on the clichéd structure of the genre, meaning it’s all too obvious how the story is going to turn out. This prevents
The Fighter from being innovative, rather than just damn-right entertaining. That said, it looks the part, the dialogue is good and you’ll be rooting for the hero, but it’s the standout performances of Bale and Leo that really push it to the fore and make this well worth the price of admission.
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