Keepin' it real.

Rating: 7/10 (28 March 2011)

Fighter isn't your run of the mill boxing film. It's more of a drama/comedy. I say comedy because there is a lot of humour in the film even though it doesn't intentionally seem like it's trying to be an all out comedy.
I put off watching the film because I thought it was going to be hard work, a serious film about serious people, crack cocaine, family feuds and face pummeling. It's about all those things and yet it manages to stay light despite them. Mark Walberg plays younger brother, and really all he has to do is play it as straight as possible while everyone around him especially Christian Bale bounces off the walls. I think this is the only film I have seen Christian bale play a comedic character. It's a hard thing to do to play a comedic character in a serious film, it threatens the whole vibe and might make a mockery of the drama , but Bale is sincere in his charachterisation and the character comes of as a recognisable real person who is entertaining and yet still believable.
The rest of the cast do well to and it is refreshing that the film didn't really go into the whole stupid Rocky thing of boxing like film stars. The boxing, the ring entry, the camera work has a feeling of authenticity and is reminiscent of real fights you might see on a Saturday night.
If there can be any criticism it is that there never really seems to be any emotional depth to it. It seems too light for what it is and all the way through i was thinking that this isn't really heavy drama, this wasn't what i was expecting, but still, overall, it's a great film.