Combative spirit

The Fighter (2010)
Certified: 16
Duration: 115 minutes
Directed by: David O’Russell
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Melissa Leo, Amy Adams
KRS release

Boxing is the sport that lends itself best to the big screen. The Fighter joins the likes of Raging Bull (1980), Rocky (1976) and Cinderella Man (2005) to name but a few films that head this genre. Director David O’Russell wisely milks the underdog element for all its worth, mixing boxing with family drama in The Fighter, which is based on a true story.

For welterweight boxer Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) life has never been easy. It’s not just the fact that he lives in the city of Lowell, Massachussetts. It’s also due to the fact that he seems to be living in the shadow of his older half brother Dicky Elklund (Christian Bale) who was once also a boxer who had done the rounds with Sugar Ray Leonard. Micky’s chances of success are not so good especially with all the stumbling blocks that those who are supposed to be backing him up place in his way.

Managing him is his mother Alice (Melissa Leo) who is hard-headed, prefers Dicky and seems to book the wrong opponents for Micky. Her choices do not seem right both for his career and also for his health sometimes. Sgt Mickey O’Keefe (Mickey O’Keefe) helps Micky train, however the latter depends on his older brother for training, tactics and advice. Dicky, however, is in trouble with the police as he is addicted to crack.

It’s when Micky meets Charlene (Amy Adams) that his career and life turn around. She is a local bartender and wants him to move away from his family as only in this manner will he really have a chance to succeed. Inevitably enough this places her at loggerheads with his family and for Micky it is time to make some hard choices.

In the acting stakes, the film is like a tug of war. The main four protagonists all bring strong measures of intensity as if each were trying to dominate the scene they are in. Mr Wahlberg approaches this film with a passion that shows how much he invested in the film, not only on screen but also in its production. Mr Wahlberg is tense and bloody on the ring but also torn between his career and the tight hold that his family has on him. The character that he brings to the screen is very easy to sympathise with.

Mr Bale brings an almost playful tone to Dicky. However, he is suffering inside and he is as much a danger to himself as to those around him. Melissa Leo as the matriarch of such a dysfunctional family – which includes several screeching half-sisters – is quite a tough nut. Amy Adams breaks out of the “good girl” image that she has been tagged with and really comes out a winner.

Ms Leo and Mr Bale won the best supporting actress and best supporting actor at the Academy Award ceremony last Sunday.

The Fighter looks very real and authentic. Mr O’Russell has always brought an edge to his films; here this is felt from the start in the way he builds the environment. We also feel strongly about how he handles his characters. The Fighter delivers the action and tenacity of boxing in the ring but it supersedes itself by delivering the goods on the drama that ensues.