Brotherhood and family

Rating: 7/10 (2 April 2016)

Tommy Riordan (Tom Hardy) is a Marine and former MMA fighter who returns to the sport to support the widow of a friend and veteran. His father Paddy Conlon (Nick Nolte), is a recovering alcoholic who reconnected with his Catholic faith, helps train and corner Tommy. Footage of a sparring session where Tommy knocks out prospect Pete "Mad Dog" Grimes (former MMA fighter Erik Apple)leaks and goes viral. Tommy finds out about an MMA tournament called Sparta, where the winner will be awarded a $5 million purse and decides to enter. Tommy's decision to have Paddy train him is partly due to the fact that no one could give the kind of specialized attention his father did.
Brendan Conlon (Joel Edgeton), Tommy's older brother, is a high school physics teacher. His daughter needs open heart surgery, leading to Brendan mortgaging his home to pay her bills. Brendan also returns to MMA as a secondary income. The superintendent learns about Brendan's fighting career and promptly suspends him without pay. Brendan reaches out to his old trainer Frank Campana (Frank Grillo) and enters Sparta as an injury replacement at Frank's urging. Paddy attempts to reconcile with Brendan, telling him about Tommy, but is coolly rebuffed and told to call or write a letter if he wants a chance to see his grandchildren.
Tommy and Brendan are placed at opposite ends of the Sparta tournament. Tommy and Brendan speak to each other during a break, revealing the underlying tension between them was due to Brendan having eloped with his wife Tess and seemingly leaving behind their terminally ill mother along with Tommy. Their seeds in the tournament lead to an inevitable clash.
This is a satisfying sports drama, with very good performances especially from Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte. The recovering addict role suits Nolte for obvious reasons. Tom Hardy's performance as the embittered ex-Marine is spot on. It's worth Googling the training videos of Tom Hardy just bulking up for the role, the physical transformation into the squat powerful build he shows off during the movie is amazing. Joel Edgerton is also very good as the struggling father, husband and provider but is somewhat overshadowed by Nolte and Hardy. This is superior to Redbelt, another sports drama with different revolving subplots since it doesn't have the ridiculous take on the MMA tournament format that Redbelt did. Warrior definitely has a Rocky feel, especially given Brendan's perspective since he's the film's main underdog.