Even If You Hate Boxing, 'The Fighter' Wins With Story, Acting

The weekend I saw The Fighter, I saw a total of three movies.  The other two I wanted to see and was looking forward to seeing.  This one…not so much. 

The reason is boxing.  I hate boxing and want to have little, if anything, to do with it.  Even though I’m a huge Scorsese fan, I still cannot re-watch Raging Bull, even though I loved it.  So, I expected something similar with The Fighter. 

What makes this not only a great film but one I would want to watch again is both the story and the excellent performances, while the fight scenes are not a crucial part of this film.  Christian Bale won the best actor Oscar in February for his performance, and Melissa Leo won best supporting actress.

Yes, the film is all about boxing and boxers, rather an entire family of fighters.  No, not all of the family members fight, but they are all involved in either the promotion or the encouragement of boxing. 

Based on real-life half-brothers, Mark Wahlberg plays Micky Ward and Christian Bale plays Dicky, whose heyday has come and gone thanks to drug abuse.  Even though whatever glory days Dicky had are behind him, he’s still obsessed with boxing and with training Micky for fights.  Micky's fighting days and glory have never hit the same high note as his brother…mostly because Dicky just cannot be relied on as a trainer.  But, can Micky put his lust and determination for a successful boxing career above the relationship with his brother and get rid of Dicky? 

Well, that’s basically what this film is about…that one decision.  Though director David O. Russell does a good job keeping this movie’s story on track, the reason to see this one, really, is for the performances of Wahlberg and Bale…and also Amy Adams as Micky’s girlfriend and Melissa Leo as the brothers’ mother.  Bale and Leo are getting most of the praise and awards, but Wahlberg's low-key performance is nonetheless stunning, as is Adams’ wild departure from her usual good-girl roles.  Bale is famously known for immersing himself into his characters, body and soul.  In 2004’s The Machinist (a great movie), he lost so much weight for the role he was truly unrecognizable.  He did something similar here – he didn’t lose as much weight as before, and he also kept some of his upper body physique for the boxing – and his performance shines. 

But don’t rule out Wahlber. Yes, he has the less flamboyant role as Micky, but Micky is filled with a restraint and an inner turmoil that is hard to fake and Wahlberg nails it.  As a brother, he is constantly conflicted between a more lucrative boxing career and the relationship he has with his troubled older brother.  Whether you like boxing or not, this movie is a must see.

The Fighter: 2010, rated R, 115 minutes, directed by David O. Russell, starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Melissa Leo. The Niles Public Library owns copies of this film on DVD.