The initial depression turns into hope and victory

Rating: Null/10 (22 January 2011)

**this review contains only light spoilers**
The Fighter is one of those films that you see for its stars, not because they are stars but because their performances were raved about. As a story, this based-on-true-story boxing drama has a lot to say about use, abuse, negligence and growing up, even if you are "not getting any younger".
Micky (Wahlberg) has been a professional fighter for his whole life, much like his brother Dicky (Bale) in a miserable small town of Lowell, where Dicky spends most of his time in a crack house, to which the brothers' mother/manager Alice (Leo) keeps a blind eye. But Dicky is not the only one abusing something, in his case substances, Alice remains unaware of how she abuses Micky's career and self-confidence by offering only fights where he can lose and pave the way for others to win.
Not until Micky sets his eyes on a straight talking, college drop-out bartender Charlene (Adams) that he learns exactly how stagnating his life has become. Recognizing Micky's potential, Charlene takes the reigns and nudges Micky towards the right path.
In this film the roles of villains and heroes shift, except for Micky who is a constant, the person who fights for what is right. But being unaware of their own and each others' motives, the emotional baggage they have harbored for each other reach the surface.
In a scene which will most likely be remembered by all, Alicia finds out that Micky has opted for another manager, effectively firing her. In a family where family comes first, Alicia and her what must be at least ten daughters pack into a small car to confront Micky and Charlene. In a hilarious cat fight, Charlene defends Micky and punches one of the daughters right in the face and it is Micky who has to stop the fight. Which is irony at its best. But quickly the humor turns into drama, when Alicia can only look at her son with tears on her eyes, wondering why Micky would betray her. For at least to her, that's what Micky is doing.
In the end, we can trust that the story ends well. After a very depressing, naturalistic first half, we arrive at a (subtle) transformation into hope. And I applaud this direction, because far to many movies take the route of either preaching how we can't get a happy ending, but the Fighter shows how fighting for one's future is always worth the punches.