Predictable, occasionally slow, and a bit ill structured from a screen writing perspective, but it benefits from an outstanding ensemble cast.

Rating: 8/10 (3 January 2011)

Recently I saw The Fighter, a film that stars Mark Wahlberg as Mickey Ward, a boxer who's been suffering from a string of severe losses due to the influence of his family. He's coached by his unreliable, crack addicted half brother, Dicky Eklund (Played by Christian Bale), and managed by his control obsessed mother, Alice (Played by Melissa Leo). This isn't even mentioning Mickey's many sisters who just won't shut up. But his new girlfriend Charlene (Played by Amy Adams) spells out how his family has been more of a hindrance than a help, and that he needs to find balance between his own life, and his family's.
I liked this movie, but I didn't like it as much as I wanted to. One of the main problems is the screenplay, which seems a bit ill structured at times, and doesn't give the character of Mickey Ward as much attention as he needs, sometimes focusing more on his family. His family are a fascinating bunch of characters, but because of his lack of focus, I just couldn't get anymore than tepid for Mickey's story arc. The film also feels slow at points.
But it's certainly not bad by any means. Director David O'Russel earns some strong performances out of his cast, such as Mark Wahlberg trying to do his best with the title character, Amy Adams surprisingly doing better than I had expected, as well as standouts Melissa Leo, and especially Christian Bale, who gives an impeccable, and utterly enthralling portrayal of addiction, and failed ambition. I also found the boxing sequences, shot in the style of HBO broadcasts, to be enjoyable, and the final fight is a triumphant scene.
I give The Fighter *** out of ****