Heart and Soul of THE FIGHTER

Rating: 9/10 (25 February 2011)

OK, you may think, "another boxing film about a nobody who becomes somebody", right? Don't underestimate The Fighter as another boxing film. It has heart and good acting, but most of all, it is authentic. This film purposely avoids sentiment and going for easy, weepy moments. Rocky this is not. This pet project of producer and star Mark Wahlberg has been years in the making and the payoff here is a gallery of great performances by talented actors who do justice to their real life counterparts.
This true story centers on boxer Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) who struggles to be a junior welterweight champion with training by his half-brother and former fighter, Dicky Ekland (an emaciated Christian Bale). Dicky lives his dashed dreams through Micky and has his own problems with drug addiction and other criminal activities. The extended family includes a supportive father and a controlling mother, Alice (Melissa Leo). Micky's life changes when he meets a bartender, Charlene (Amy Adams), who believes in him. When the opportunity comes to take his career to the next level and work with professional trainers and management in Las Vegas, Micky's relationship with Dicky is jeopardized and causes a mighty rift with his family especially his 'manager' Alice who feels betrayed. To make matters worse, Dicky gets in trouble with the law and must serve prison. He still lives in the past, clinging to memories of boxing Sugar Ray Leonard in 1978. Micky is so torn when a seemingly winnable fight switches his intended opponent to one who is much heavier at the last minute, that he contemplates quitting altogether. Riddled with guilt, he becomes reclusive until Charlene intercedes. He begins to fight again and amasses a series of wins until he is one step away from a championship if he can overcome a challenger, Sanchez, and Dicky offers tips on how to fight him. Faced with a chance to really make something of his career, Micky must choose between his new handlers and Dicky who taught him everything he knows about boxing. It could mean a championship in the end.
The film works on different levels of relationships: Micky and Charlene, Micky and his family, but most of all the film rests on the bond between the two brothers. There is a good sense of family life and local flavor. Micky and Dicky grew up local athletes and resident celebrities of sorts in a blue collar town where everybody knows each other. When Micky and Charlene challenge Alice, there is a tumultuous change of dynamics and a tense battle of wills. The best scene and also a turning point in the story happens when Dicky confronts Charlene about her own shortcomings, and everything in a way comes full circle as each person must look within to missed opportunities and not achieving their dreams. It is an honest, pivotal moment that validates Dicky's character who, surprisingly, still knows a thing or two about boxing. Ironically Micky and Dicky's scenes recall Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger as brothers in On the Waterfront also about a washed up fighter.
The fight scenes are quite convincing and well edited, and when you have a well chiseled actor like Wahlberg (The Departed), a kind of modern day John Garfield, you accept him as a boxer without question. Bale (The Dark Knight) really inhabits his portrayal of a proverbial loser, and he looks the part having shed substantial weight. Was this once the boy who enchanted us in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun? Come to think of it, Spielberg has another young alumnus in Adams (Catch Me If You Can) who makes the most of her role as a bright, headstrong woman who supports Micky and butts heads with Alice and her daughters literally. Leo (Frozen River) is quite good as the proud matriarch whose influence and authority is threatened.
The film tells its story as directed by David O. Russell (Three Kings) in workman like manner. It's almost the kind of film Clint Eastwood makes these days. The story and relationships are strong enough to easily carry the film without resorting to sentimentality. Indeed, there is a thrilling moment ringside where a shot almost follows through with Alice and Charlene hugging, but Russell cuts away to another unglamorous shot. Bravo for not taking the easy way out although there are a couple of scenes could have been extended more. It's also nice to see the real life brothers in the end credits, and you know that the film has done their lives justice. The original screenplay and story had a lot of writers involved, and the result is a heck of a remarkable comeback story and a family that would not quit.