A good sports drama that pales in comparison with "Rocky" and "Raging Bull" ...

Rating: 7/10 (13 March 2011)

"The Fighter" had everything to be a Knock-Out. Something about the kind of resurrection's stories that only cinema can powerfully tell. Something about self-confidence, determination and courage, making us identify with characters that incarnate this eternal struggle of human spirit, in order to triumph over the adversity ... thanks to a total physical and spiritual dedication. And which movie genre is more inspiring than Sports in that specific case? However, sports dramas is also a genre that can be considered a double edged sword when poorly executed, and inevitably falling into some clichés, the kind that ruined the classic "Rocky" or provided movies ranked in the same category than purely entertaining action-driven flicks, looking more like flashy ads for video games or sports wear than films with real substance. And this is why only a handful of sports film had the honor to be nominated for Best Picture, and that most of them are about boxing.
The particularity of Boxing movies and what makes them so inspiring is probably the fact that beyond the limits of the ring and the silver screen, this is the closest sport to define the very concept of life. If you consider your life as ring, you have the adversity, you must fight it, you hit, you're being hit, and at the end, either you stand, either you're in the floor, and in between, it's just you letting all your strength and everything that could fill your body with anger and frustration going out or all the motivation and confidence that could pump your heart and fill your veins with the appetite for winning, for proving yourself, for the ultimate triumph  boxing is about a self-destruction before the victory, about paying the biggest price to overcome the inner enemy that tries to knock you down, about getting beaten, getting ugly and finally getting the victory  or losing again, but it's never a victory in the ring, it's about fighting your own demons. And now that I think of it, the greatest boxing movies, which were regarded among the best sports films, were hardly about winning in the ring. This is not how I remember "Rocky", "Raging Bull" or "Million Dollar Baby" anyway  and if I mention these three films, I guess it's because I believe "The Fighter" is a good film, but which pales in comparison with its glorious predecessors.
I think what lacks in this film is the element that must drive sports dramas: passion. Never in this film, had this passion been communicated, not through the lead character anyway: Micky Ward, played by Mark Whalberg. Micky is probably one of the most passive lead characters, in the worst way, the one that makes impossible to feel any empathy for him, sometimes sympathy, but most of the times, it rhymed with pity. Seriously, even though it's based on a true story, when he's not influenced by his bossy foul-mouthed mother Alice, played by Melissa Leo, and his ex-champion, crack-addicted, dim-witted half-brother, portrayed by an excellent Christian Bale, it's his girlfriend Charlene that convinces him to rebel and to think of his future. He never decides on his own, he's always influenced, and we don't really care for him because the other characters steal the scene with such efficiency, especially Christian Bale, that the results of the fight don't really matter. Ironically, even the way he wins his first match seems like a lucky shot more than a calculated strategy. His victory is a hold-up, just like his life, he let himself being hit before one or two deadly shots. The film lacks transitions : the kind that would have explained what Charlene found in Mickey to kiss him so tenderly after her boring date in the theater? Well, at least, it made us admire her sexy body early in the film, but I still prefer Rocky and Adrian's romance.
It's a pity because it's such a dynamic film, driven by good performances. Unfortunately, the writing, pacing and directing didn't really match this quality. Too much arguing and shouting: at one point, the movie becomes a real mess that doesn't let you enough time to know the characters and understand their motives. Why is the mother so over-protective? How did Dicky become drug-addicted? What about this TV documentary? How did Dicky and Alice finally get along? Did they just decide to make peace and then it cuts directly to the final match, what happened between? Is what all Mickey needed from the beginning the right words between two rounds? Really? It could have been done better, seriously. And don't let me start about the sisters, these loud-mouthed chicks were obviously just comic reliefs and made the whole thing particularly laughable. But it could have been forgivable if we got to know the most important character, Micky. He seemed like a nice and obedient guy with a potential, with heart as they say, but at the end, he didn't change that much. And that's what disqualifies this film as a sports drama, when in general, it's more about a victory that goes beyond the arena, when ironically, those who don't win the game are the ultimate winners, because the victory was elsewhere.
And despite his victory, I still had the feeling that there was something of a loser in the way Whalberg portrayed Micky, and it's no surprise that even in real life, the actor didn't get the Oscar nomination for the performance. He was the main character, and the movie sinned by not giving him too much chance to evolve, to please, to fascinate, to inspire us, it was more about evolution of situations told in a very contrived way: Micky with family, Micky rebelling, everyone reunited, and (surprise!) victory at the end. Sorry, but that victory was Dicky, Alice and Charlene's one. Micky was an outsider from beginning to end, and it's not the last shot of the film that would change my mind.