A Familiar Story

Rating: 8/10 (18 March 2011)

THE FIGHTER breaks no new ground as a film. There are many films with the same theme ('Fighting Tommy Riley' is one of the best, but there are many others) despite the fact that this one is based on a true story. There is nothing to really fault in this film: it just doesn't quite live up to the honors and hype afforded it. Writers Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson have managed to create dialogue and encourage accents specific to the Lowell, Massachusetts setting and their script has a steady flow that makes the film work. David O. Russell directs a fine cast and makes the most of the secondary stories that take the film out of the ring and into the lives of the Ward family in a credible way.
Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg in a very sensitive, underplayed and under-appreciated performance) is the younger brother of Dicky Ekland - same mother, different fathers - (Christian Bale, gaunt and frighteningly real as a crack addict) who came close to the big time in boxing, a potential hero of Lowell, MA. Dicky is Micky's wholly unreliable trainer and the devotion between the two brothers is palpable. The 'manager' of Micky's would-be boxing career is the boys' mother Alice (Melissa Leo). Micky fights losing fight after losing fight until he meets a bartender girl Charlene (Amy Adams) who steers him away form the bad influence of his family - a move that allows Micky to begin to rise in the boxing ranks. Dicky is imprisoned for multiple charges and gets clean and upon release works with Micky again to lead him to victory.
The Ward family - including father George (Jack McKee) is a mangy bunch- the sisters are made up to appear as tacky as young girls can look and talk. Melissa Leo is credible as the arrogant yet devoted materfamilias, Christian Bale is stunning in his portrayal of the pathetic Dicky, but Mark Wahlberg is rock solid as the quiet but committed fighter/brother/son. This is probably not a film to see twice but the first viewing is entertaining.
Grady Harp