The Fighter: In this corner, one heck of a good film

Growing up in the shadow of his older brother Dickey, a once talented boxer and small town hero who now battles a drug addiction, Mickey has always struggled to be his own man and makes a name for himself as a professional boxer. Things start to turn around for him in the ring once he begins training with someone other than Dickey and starts dating a woman named Charlene, but will he be able to maintain his newfound success?

A film in the same vein as Raging Bull, though lacking in the same kind of intensity story-wise and visceral viciousness when it came to the actual boxing sequences, The Fighter was an engrossing sports drama which sucked viewers in thanks to the impressive performances of its cast. Mark Wahlberg was steady as Mickey, invoking both strength and vulnerability in his portrayal, making him imminently easy to root for. Melissa Leo’s portrayal as Alice (Mickey and Dickey’s overbearing and unscrupulous mother) was horrifying to behold at points (because of the way she treated Mickey) and therefore solid in its own right but major kudos (and a well deserved Oscar) go to Christian Bale as Dickey. When he is first shown on the screen, it’s hard to imagine that this is the same man who portrays Batman, as Bale has the look, twitches and other believable characteristics of an addict. He was not an easy character to like at first, for Dickey had a number of faults beyond his addiction but Bale was able to breath bits and pieces of humanity into the character until he finally decided to give up drugs and recommit himself to living a clean life and helping Mickey with his boxing career. The parallel lines that both he and Mickey took to their ultimate redemption and/or triumph were difficult to watch at times, but that just made their victories much sweeter. Plus it served the purpose of keeping the audience engaged in the story.

Featuring mature directing from David O. Russell, The Fighter delivered an emotionally satisfying story with captivating performances.

Grade: B-