It was OK but not a knockout and certainly no Rocky

Rating: 5/10 (24 June 2011)

The only amazing thing about this movie and story is how the real fighter managed to achieve success - if all the lunacy displayed in this movie was what he had to endure in real life.
This movie is based on the story of Mickey Ward who became a world champion boxer and his 'crazy' family.
As for the movie well it seems to have got more attention than it deserved in my opinion.
Christian Bale did do a very good job (seemingly effortlessly) - in displaying a zany train-wreck character. The junkie ex-boxer turned trainer and the half brother of the aforementioned Mickey Ward.
Ward was played by 'Marky' Mark Wahlberg who was a bit of a let down to be honest. I love Wahlberg normally he is cool, edgy and tough but in this seemed a bit out of his depth and looked uncomfortable acting as a boxer. His muscled out body (for this role) made him look all wrong to me - his normal physique looks much better.
Maybe Wahlberg deliberately played the quiet one compared to his domineering mother/manager played by Mellisa Leo and his 'in your face' over the top older half-brother Dickey Eklund (Bale) who once 'floored' (or was it a slip) the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard during a fight.
To be honest his mother and sisters of whom there were many looked far more scary than Wahlberg's - Mickey Ward.
The Sisters in particular looked like totally messed up 'trailer trash' characters who would not have looked out of place in the film 'Deliverance'. They were actually my favourite part of the movie to be honest - very funny, crazy and scary and well acted.
The love interest of the fighter was played by Amy Adams who did a reasonable job i suppose.
The 2 Oscars for best supporting roles? -Bale just for sheer lunacy and effortless acting of such a character maybe deserved to win and Leo too maybe as the mum character really got under my skin and caused me some emotion - i actually felt like slapping her a few times to shut her up ha ha. Mind you i didn't see the other nominees performances as yet.
This movie is definitely no Rocky which is the benchmark of boxing movies. Million Dollar Baby and Cinderella Man i really enjoyed and can recommend as great movies too (I have not seen Raging Bull to comment).
'The Fighter' is just not memorable really - the boxing scenes were poor but maybe based on what the actual fights were like. (but there was no passion here i didn't care if he won or lost whereas - I used to cry and scream at the TV when Rocky was fighting with emotion that was real) - Some say the Rocky fights were not great - but the thing is I loved the character and really wanted him to win. The best fight scene in this movie is between the girlfriend and a couple of the sisters - awesome compared to the boxing bouts on show.
As i said the highlights of this movie are Bale's crazy performance - the scary bunch of sisters for sheer entertainment - and the crazy domineering mum - but she was a bit too annoying really.
One of the sisters is actually quite sexy looking but i don't know the name of the actress or the name of the character. The rest of them I would prefer not to meet in a dark alley. (No offence to the actresses I am sure it was all make-up and great acting that made them so scary and freaky.
Watch this movie for sure and maybe you will enjoy as I did too in some aspects - but don't believe all the hype and expect something memorable it simply is not.