The Excellent MMA Fights Aren't The Primary Reason To Watch This Movie, The Powerful Acting Is

Rating: 10/10 (4 February 2016)

I'm a little late getting this review up, the movie has been out since 2011. I'm putting up this review so far past it's release because this might be the best movie I've seen that's come out in this decade.I still remember walking into the theatre being open but having low expectations, with no idea such a skillfully made and emotionally gripping movie lay ahead.
*Minor Spoilers Ahead* The movie starts out in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with Paddy Conlon (Nick Nolte) returning to his home after attending a meeting at his church (listening to Moby Dick on a tape which comes up later). To his surprise, on his porch is his son Tommy Riordan (Tom Hardy). He's surprised to see Tommy but Tommy has been drinking and is not pleasant company. We learn that Tommy and his mother ran away from Paddy leaving his other son Brendan with him. Paddy was an abusive alcoholic and Tommy's mother feared for her life. She eventually died because she was very sick when they fled. Paddy will not drink however as he is in recovery and is clearly upset upon hearing this news. He reveals that he had a private investigator look up Tommy and his mother and that he was very sorry about what happened. Tommy leaves basically calling him a piece of $%!* but tells him that he will be in town for the foreseeable future. He begins to start training at a local gym when news of the Sparta MMA tournament reaches him. It's a winner take all tournament where the prize is $5,000,000.
We are then introduced to Brendan (Joel Edgerton). He works as a substitute high school science teacher. Brendan is well liked by his students but cannot make ends meet. His wife Tess (Jennifer Morrison) works two jobs and they are trying to overcome a mountain of hospital bills after their one daughter was gravely ill. He also has a second job, Tess thinks he bounces at a strip club but really he participates in unlicensed MMA fights. Although Tommy was a champion wrestler in his high school days, Brendan fought in the UFC. He did not have a particularly successful career though. After winning a fight he was expected to lose, he comes home with a nasty shiner leading Tess to try and insist he quit bouncing. Unfortunately news of these fights breaks out as well and Brendan is put on suspension for his outside the classroom activities. With no other way to pay the bills, Brendan turns to these fights full time along with training with top MMA trainer Frank Campana (Frank Grillo) who is a former friend.
If you walked into this movie knowing nothing about the finer plot points, I think you would just assume it would be your average boxing movie plot with MMA. This is not the case. I want to start with the actual fighting within the movie. Although I can't imagine its 100% completely realistic, it's pretty grounded and pretty violent. There's some bone crushing strikes, some pretty complex manoeuvres and some surprising outcomes. The scenes are well filmed and stand up against any boxing movie easy. I would echo other reviewers in saying that the MMA fights are treated seriously and not as a gimmick or a joke like an inferior movie would.
On a whole, the plot of Warrior isn't daring or new. It does follow certain plot points that most sports movies do. Normally this would be an instant problem but Warrior moves past that issue by dealing with many heavy themes. The one that always hits me hard is dealing with intense pain caused by those you love the most. This movie shows this pain in a brutally honest manner and it leaves me welling up every time I watch Warrior. Tommy and Brendan have every reason to hate their father and honestly due to the horrific acts he put them through, I'm not sure he deserves their forgiveness. You see how much Paddy's actions have changed their lives, how Paddy yearns for another chance and how both men carry their emotional baggage with them not just in the ring but in their lives everyday. It's hard to watch them struggle but it's one of the reasons that Warrior is so excellent. Other key themes are forgiveness, overcoming addiction and how important family can be. It's for these reasons and more that Warrior is able to overcome using familiar story elements and build upon them so well.
The other big reason to watch this movie is the absolutely amazing trio of lead performances. I see this as the breakout performance for Tom Hardy as opposed to Bronson. As a character, Tommy is unstoppable but he's also being suffocated by his emotional and physical trauma. You feel his pain every moment Tom is on screen, it's an involving acting job. Joel Edgerton is just as good playing Brendan. Brendan is more a classic underdog but he's so easy to root for. Joel plays off the rest of the cast really well and he nails every scene with any member of the cast. Nick Nolte received an Oscar nomination for his work and you can see why. He has the most complicated part, being a former alcoholic begging for forgiveness. Nick is probably channelling some of his personal life and it comes through in a gripping performance. I would also note that Jennifer and Frank are excellent in their respective roles too.
Warrior often gets compared alongside The Fighter (another boxing movie with Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, and Melissa Leo). The Fighter got the accolades but to me Warrior is the far better movie. It's an excellent sports movie but it's strength is being a layered and superb drama. It's in my top 10 favourite films and I would recommend it whether you watch MMA or not. You can appreciate it either way.