Just another sports film?

Rating: 8/10 (20 March 2011)

I've always liked sports films for their motivational nature and the never say die attitude portrayed in the movie. Owing to the high success rate of such films, a redundancy of films also occurred which caused many people including me to sideline this genre entirely due to the overdose. My approach to 'The Fighter' had been similar. Though it starred two big Hollywood stars, I expected it to be just another sports film and conveniently ignored it for a while. But the entire Oscar buzz around it led me to watching the film eventually and boy! I couldn't have been more wrong. It is much more than what I expected it to be. The Fighter is the story of Micky Ward and his older half-brother Dicky Eklund played by Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale respectively. The movie starts with Dicky, being a former boxer who lost his career to drugs and crime, training his younger brother Micky for an upcoming tournament but not being entirely sincere with it owing to his 'Crack' addiction. This causes Micky to lose many a times also accompanied by his mother's mismanagement. After an incident which causes Dicky to be jailed, Micky is approached by a new manager and a trainer who work hard with him only on the condition that he never gets back to his brother. Accompanied by the constant support of his girlfriend Charlene, played by Amy Adams he gets on success track but also realizes his brother's contribution at the same time. Dicky gets released from jail and approaches Micky claiming he has really changed. Does Micky take him back? Does he have it in him to approach high pressure matches without his brother? What about the promise he made to his team? Will having his brother back sabotage his chances of winning the title? These questions are answered in the rest of the movie. The movie is beautifully set in Lowell, Massachusetts, where the settings and the background sink perfectly into the movie making you feel like it is a true life story (It is!!). Coming to the performances, one actor stands above them all and it is undoubtedly Christian Bale. He plays the part of a crack addict with such elegance and conviction that it's hard to believe it is the same person we saw as the billionaire Bruce Wayne. The performance in short is, ineffable. Mark Wahlberg underplays as the underdog boxer. And the rest were commendable too. The prime attribute of the film is that one cannot classify it under a genre. It is a drama which focuses on human relations and emotions as much as it does on the spirit of sports. Though slow, it never loses its grip on the audience. It is the story of triumph over adversity both in and out of the boxing ring which finally proves a point that the factors for success maybe numerous and unimaginable. The main reasons to watch this film are to experience one of the best performances in recent times and to see a real life story connect powerfully with you.