By turns hilarious, heartbreaking and uplifting, Fighter is a winner

Rating: 9/10 (7 December 2014)

Wonderful; absolutely wonderful. Those are the words I kept repeating to myself as I left the theatre after watching The Fighter. This movie is by turns funny, heartbreaking, and ultimately inspiring. And it's all the more powerful for being true. Some of the things in here, you just can't make up.
The story follows brothers Mickey Ward and Nicky Eklund of Lowell Massachusetts. Mickey (Mark Wahlberg) is thirty, and struggling to establish himself as a serious boxer. Older brother Nicky (Christian Bale) had his brush with greatness, but never made the big time because of his crack habit. Now he trains his brother, while their overbearing mom, Alice (Melissa Leo) manages. Mickey's brother and mother only want the best for him, but between Mickey's addiction and unreliability and Alice's tendency to push him into fights he's not ready for, they're as much a hindrance as a help. For Mickey to make it to the top he'll have to step out of family's shadow, and for Nicky to really help his brother, he'll have to break his old habits.
Walberg is excellent as Mickey. Physically, he's in great shape, looking every bit the contender. And on an emotional level, he nails the part of a man who's tired of being an also ran, of letting his friends and neighbors down. His earnestness and his desire to come out from his brother's shadow are palpable. Amy Adams also puts in good work as Mickey's girlfriend Charlene. Along with his father George, she's the voice of reason in opposition to the craziness of his mother and sisters, the one pushes him to do the smart thing instead of going back to the way things were.
But the greatest performance by far is Bale's, as Nicky. His is one of the best portrayals of addiction since Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend. But where drink had prevented Milland's character from ever achieving anything worthwhile, Nicky has taken an even greater fall. He used to be a contender; he fought Sugar Ray Leonard for goodness sake! But now he's a slacker, a goof off, showing up late for training sessions, missing work, and jumping out of second story windows into dumpsters so his mom doesn't catch him at the local crack house.
And whereas The Lost Weekend was a tale of sorrow upon sorrow that attracted only sympathy for its protagonist, Bale is far more nuanced as Nicky. He's pathetic sure, but just like that one stoner friend you had in high school, he can also be pretty funny. His obliviousness and goofy, in-your-face mannerisms are worth more than a few chuckles, and his plan for raising some quick cash results in one of funniest sequences I've seen outside of a comedy. That's not to say there's anything lightweight about his performance. When he and his family see the ESPN documentary on crack addiction, the one they thought was about his 'comeback' it is absolutely shattering, both for him and for us.
The documentary, the filming of which runs through first half, is an excellent plot device. Besides providing emotional depth, it gives us a greater sense of what Nicky used to be, and acts as a catalyst for the development of the second half. But this movie isn't just about drugs and family issues; it's about boxing. Not to worry, the fight scenes are first rate. It feels like your right in the ring with them. And you will be rooting for Mickey every step of the way. As I watched him coming back against Sanchez, and in his title bout, I was pumping my fists and shouting encouragements under my breath. And looking around the theatre, I wasn't the only one.
The fighter is an excellent sports movie, and a true gem of independent filmmaking. It works on the levels of both serious relationship movie and feel good sports flick. It's about believing in yourself, becoming your own man, and overcoming dependency, whether to drugs, old habits, or even your own family.