The Perfect Way To Do A Conventional Boxing Movie

Rating: 8/10 (13 June 2016)

Say what ever you want about David O Russell as a person but you cannot deny how brilliant he is as a director and The Fighter is a fantastic movie from him. As I previously said The Fighter is a conventional boxing movie but when making one of them there are a few things that you need to have for one terrific performances and this film has that with Christian Bale manages to do steal the entire movie with his sympathetic and deluded performance making for an extremely interesting character arc. Mark Wahlberg is also fantastic in this movie giving possibly the best performance of his career as Micky Ward because you can just get behind him not just because Wahlberg is a likable actor but because he convincingly conveys the characters personal struggle. Another thing a conventional boxing movie needs in Good boxing matches and they are expertly filmed making for very intense sequences leaving you on the edge of your seat. Melissa Leo is very good in this movie but you never really understand why she is so horrible towards Micky and Adams character and seeing as it is a big part of the movie that's a lot of unanswered questions. The romance between Wahlberg and Adams characters is excellent and that's a good thing because if it hadn't been it could have brought the movie down but no you buy the confidence that Ward gets from Charlene and the chemistry is top notch. The Fighter doesn't hold back on the raw emotion and heartbreak in this movie and it makes you care even more that the characters get over these heartbreaks. The worst thing about The Fighter is its conventional aspects but this is out shined by the performances, characters, direction, arcs making for an excellent movie. 86%-A-