Is this family THIS awful?!

Rating: 9/10 (23 March 2011)

I would love to know more about Mickey Ward and his family. However, at the end of the film you see the real Mickey and his brother--so I assume it was made with complete cooperation of the family. This, despite the family appearing nearly 100% crazy--possibly too crazy for "The Jerry Springer Show" crazy!! However, when I looked on the internet, I really couldn't find anything that verified or refuted the portrayal of these folks. If this IS a realistic portrait, it is a wonderful argument for retroactive birth control or personal redemption--take your pick.
"The Fighter" is a film about a relatively obscure (at least up until this film) boxing champ from 2000, Mickey Ward. Although his comeback is inspirational, the reason the film is compelling is that he apparently was raised by one of the most dysfunctional families I've ever seen in film--Mowgli was raised in a better family background than this one--at least according to the movie. I could say more but you really have to see this film--it says it all.
Ward's mother (Melissa Leo) and brother (Christian Bale) in action are pretty intense and interesting. Both of them received Supporting Actress/Actor Oscars for their parts. I wasn't as impressed by Leo's acting--screaming and acting trashy was interesting but that's about all there seemed to be to the character. However, Bale was incredible. Like most of his films, you can't hear any of his natural Welsh accent but what really impressed me was what he did to play this character--losing all that weight in order to look gaunt like a crack-head. Plus, he showed a nice range of acting in the film. It's worth seeing just for his performance.
As for Amy Adams in this film, this is NOT the Amy Adams of "Enchanted"! In fact, it's about as far removed from this role or the one from "Julie and Julia" as you can find--as she plays a very earthy, crude and occasionally very unlikable character. Plus, seeing her in her underwear was a bit unnerving to me---I just kept thinking of her as a Disney princess gone bad! She was good in the film--just not exactly like I'd expected.
Mark Wahlberg apparently produced the film as well as acted in the lead. He was good, but frankly he didn't have a lot to do in the film other than box and let all the chaos happen around him. He simply went unnoticed, in a way, because so many wildly over-the-top performances surrounded him during practically every minute he was on film!
This is a well-made but often an unpleasant and very adult film--not nearly as arty as "Raging Bull" but very similar in content. And, if possible, even trashier...and like a slow-motion train wreck at times as you watch the family in action. Fortunately, late in the film there are some glimmers of hope...some.