A fantastic biopic that pulls on the heartstrings

Rating: 9/10 (31 July 2015)

This is my second biopic in the last few days and even though I thought 42 was a great film I think the fighter is a more complete film and I think this film is fantastic. The film focuses on boxer Mickey ward who is down on his luck and not going anywhere in his boxing career. He is also being held down by his family especially his crack head trainer his brother dicky. Now Mark wahlberg is a decent actor and he does a really good job here, he carries the emotional scenes and I fully believed him as this boxer that just needs the confidence to succeed in life. But show stealer and game changer is Christian bale as dicky in a role that he won an Oscar for. Bale is such a good actor and he fully commits to this role you truly do believe he is this crack head who is messed up in the head. But also I like damaged characters who underneath have a good side to them and Christian bale nailed that part in this film to flawless levels. Amy Adams is really good in this film also, she plays mickeys girlfriend and she wasn't just this girl to look at, she was strong, determined and you see her reasoning for her actions in this film. Melissa Leo is also really good in the film she was an antagonist in the film but she brought allot of sympathy to her character and allot of complex things to her that makes you even kind of like her by the end of the film. The story is great, yes when it comes to the boxing you have seen it all before but it's good stuff and more importantly this film is not about boxing really it is about a relationship between two brothers and a family that is fractured and in that way it succeeds. There are allot of emotional scenes in this movie and they do hit you because of the performances and the story of this film is what makes it so interesting to watch. The script is the only part of the film that is lacking a little bit. The drama is done well and the small bits of humour as well, its just that sometimes it becomes hard to understand people and there are some shouting matches that really don't add anything to the film. The style is really good with it portraying a realistic world that these people live in making you care about them because all of this is the real world. Also all of the boxing scenes were filmed well which is a good thing in your boxing movie. Overall this is a fantastic film where if you can take the drama is definitely worth the watch.