Best of 2011?

Rating: 10/10 (3 October 2011)

Warrior tells the story of Tommy (Tom Hardy), a marine, who comes back from Iraq. He's angry at his father Paddy (Nick Nolte), for past actions, and refuses to forgive him, although he does train for a ultimate fighting championship called Sparta, in order to win enough money to help the ex-wife of his dead best friend to support her family. Meanwhile, Brendan (Joel Edgerton), a school teacher, has to live with his two daughters and wife Tess, and needs money to pay his house after a heart operation for one of his daughters pretty much stole him of all his money. He decides to enter an ultimate fighting championship called Sparta in order to make enough money to pay his house, and trains with one of his good friends. The brothers Tommy and Brendan will then realize that if they each win everything, they'll come face to face with each other, and both have their own reasons for winning and their own reasons for hating each other...
I'm not going to lie, I was expecting this film to be really good, and it totally blew my mind away. Warrior is not necessarily an ultimate fighting movie. The fans of UFC type of fights (such as myself) will get their share of what they want, but they might have to be patient a bit and wait for the second half of the film. Instead, we seem to be abording different themes: Redemption, Forgiveness, Reconciliation, Brotherhood and Family, to name a few.
The story is written in such a way that you cannot help but feel the need for both protagonists to win the ending fight. Sure, some might vote a little more for Tommy, others might root more for Brendan, but in the end, you don't want either of them to lose. Sure, the story might be a little unrealistic: Two unknown fighters training for barely a few weeks can outclass fighters who have been training for years for this tournament, but it's all done in a way that you end up forgiving it for that because of the ending.
The ending fight is the best moment of the story. Most would think it would end in a cliché-type of ending, with both fighters winning or a draw or some type of bull$h!t!, but it's in fact much more profound and emotional than that. The actors play perfectly their role of torn people wanting to end their feud in the ring once and for all, accompanied to the sad sounds of ''About Today'' by The National. Nick Nolte is a terrific actor in this film, and I do hope that the Academy recognizes him with not an Oscar nomination but rather an actual Oscar in his hands. Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy's performances are both terrific, but I felt that Hardy outclassed Edgerton, perhaps not by much, but at least slightly. Hardy's confused and dark character is portrayed beautifully, and I do hope it could result in an Oscar nomination for the role.
With that being said, I do believe Warrior to be the best film of 2011 so far (though be aware, at the time of this writing, I have not seen Drive or Moneyball yet). With enough beautiful, fighting to keep up pumped and cranked up, some emotional scenes that might make the toughest of men cry, and an incredible distribution, Warrior should definitely be nominated for the big Award in January. If you haven't seen this film yet in theatres, run to it now! Definitely buying the DVD when it comes out.