Best Film of 2011

Rating: 10/10 (27 August 2011)

Eight months into the year and this is easily the best film of 2011 thus far and a sure Oscar contender. Saw an advanced screening at the Landmark in L.A. and haven't seen a reaction like that from an audience in a very long time. Cheering. People crying coming out of the theater. Very blown away. The performances are across-the-board phenomenal. Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton give movie star turns and should be nominated for Best Actor, and Nick Nolte hasn't been this good since AFFLICTION and should win Best Supporting. He's the best American actor never to win an Oscar and that should change this winter. Edge of your seat excitement, raw emotion, humor--WARRIOR does everything. Expectations weren't high going in (the trailer is very pedestrian and makes it look like a genre sports movie, which it isn't), but I was completely floored and wiped out by the end (a song by The National plays over the film's final scene and if it doesn't make you cry you're tougher than I am). Hats off to director Gavin O'Connor for this one. Not only is it better than THE FIGHTER, but it's on par with ROCKY and RAGING BULL and is something of a combination of the former's spiritedness and the latter's grittiness. Incredible movie.