Great performance from Bale. This Could have been epic.

Rating: 7/10 (31 December 2010)

Alright.
The Fighter is a true story about Mickey Ward - my favorite boxer. I grew up around this time, and watched most of the fights featured in the film. I recently wrote a sports-blog(for 4 years) about a variety of sports; boxing, football, baseball, basketball, etc. On one particular occasion I wrote a blog about 'The Top 20 Sports Moments Since 2000'. Amongst them were Michael Phelps' Gold Medal barrage, Usain Bolts' 100 meter world-record, and the 2004 Red Sox winning Major League Baseball's 100th World Series, which ended the Curse of the Bambino. What was #1? What event/moment did I single as the greatest? Mickey Ward's first fight against Arturro Gatti.
It was a fight that made movies like Rocky 3 marginally realistic. The brawl of brawls. The most violent, epic, unforgettable, irreplaceable, 'shake your hand on your buddies head'' moment of sports Godliness. It took boxing fans back to the pre-depression days of bare-knuckle fights and hard-men, and reminded us of the euphoric heights of heart and determination that can be captured in sport.
Not even a strong performance from Christian Bale can make up for that sports' moment being left out of this screenplay. We can only hope that Aronofsky's drama/comedy will get non-boxing fans to look into the career of Mickey Ward - so that they might see that fight.
Bale's performance is amazing, but I don't think that Mark Wahlberg really captured the role of Mickey in the same way. At least he didn't immerse himself into the character in the same way as Bale, and the biggest resemblance he had with Mickey was his physique.
This was a very good movie; entertaining, fast-paced, with a brisk running time. 'The Fighter' isn't quite as good as its' current ranking here, but it should crack the years Ten Best, IMO.
The boxing scenes are more realistic than most, and the interaction between Mickey's family and circle of friends is priceless.
Good. Not great! Nudged out 'The Town' as the best movie I saw this week. If Wahlberg was on par with bale, and if this had gone another half-hour and included the Ward/Gatti fight, it might have scored as high as a 8-8.5.
75/100
Solid Recommendation.
You'll like it if you like: Bull Durham, Without Limits, Conviction, and Rocky Balboa.