One Of The Best This Year

Rating: 8/10 (21 December 2011)

For me, Warrior was one of the best surprises of this entire year in film. It's not very often you find a movie that, in all actuality, was about as formulaic as you can get within the context of it's genre, and yet was still a very good film. There really isn't anything new that Warrior brings to the table as far as films about fighters are concerned, except it centers on Mixed Martial Arts instead of boxing. But it really doesn't matter because the story, screenplay, and acting make this one of the best movies I've seen in 2011. And no performance was more compelling than that of Nick Nolte's. I'm not really sure what's been going on with Nolte in the last few years or so, other than some minor film roles and some legal problems. But in Warrior, he delivers what may be the best performance of his career, and certainly a performance that deserves to be nominated for an Oscar. I have a sneaky suspicion that some of the demons that haunt his character here hit a little too close to home for him. But it's also probably some of those negative experiences that helped him deliver such a mesmerizing performance. It should be noted that the film starts to drag just a bit in the second half. But all is forgiven in one of the best conclusions to a film I've seen in a very long time. If you're a little gun shy about this one because you may not be the biggest MMA fan in the world, don't let that keep you from seeing this film. Don't get me wrong. The MMA aspect is definitely on full display here. But it's what surrounds the fight scenes that makes Warrior a very satisfying movie. And it's what surrounds the fight scenes that also makes Warrior one of the best films of the year.