THE FIGHTER review
With "The Fighter", it seems like most everyone has something to prove. That's both in front of and behind the camera. From the opening strains of The Heavy's song "How Ya Like Me Now?" that question hangs in the air throughout. In the film, Mark Wahlberg headlines as real life boxer Micky Ward, an underdog from urban Boston with more family baggage than obvious skill. Saddled with an overly controlling mother, Alice, (Melissa Leo) and a junkie screwball brother, Dickie (Christian Bale) overseeing his career, Micky's road to glory seems not only elusive, but also downright mythological. Dickie, back in his pre-crack days, managed to defeat Sugar Ray Leonard in the ring. But with his victory considered dubious at best (word is Sugar Ray actually slipped), Dickie is now a washed up has-been, reduced to jumping out of second story crack-house windows like a moron to hide from his mom. "The Fighter" details the levels of heartbreak and torturous family strife that is inherent in the brothers' need to validate themselves through boxing.
Likewise, much of the cast and crew of "The Fighter" find themselves in a similar professional predicament. Director David O. Russell, nowadays better known for his recorded tirade on the set of "I Heart Huckabees" and the disaster of his previous film attempt, the unrealized "Nailed" than his actual cinematic output, desperately needs to get himself back on the "promising director" chart he once shared with the likes of Paul Thomas Anderson, Spike Jones, David Fincher, and Darren Aronofsky (who served as a producer on this film). Likewise, Christian Bale, also known for an on-set blow-up last year, desperately needs to prove that he is in fact the bona fide actor the world once took him for prior to back-to-back-to-back block-of-wood performances in "The Dark Knight", "Terminator: Salvation" and "Public Enemies". As for Mark Wahlberg, we need only utter two words (and he knows what they are): "The Happening". By effectively working together on this grimy early nineties underdog boxing movie, these three accomplish, to varying degrees, what they needed to do.
The biggest winner is Bale. His wild-eyed junkie antics steal the show through and through. It's the heartbreaking bottoming out of his character that gives the film its positive weight. With an HBO documentary crew following him throughout, Dickie is convinced that they are chronicling his "comeback". When he discovers the true subject matter, painful humiliation extends well beyond himself, affecting everyone in his life. Completely immersed in his character, bringing every pathetic nuance to the table, Bale's portrayal of Dickie Ward is one of the best supporting performances of the year. It's fair to say that the more interesting story lies with his character rather than Wahlberg's.
Russell fares well if not extraordinarily so. Like his directorial peers (listed above), Russell has apparently artistically mellowed with age, opting for texture and nuance over sensory assault and attitude. "The Fighter" communicates most effectively through its dominant use of over-crowded white urban squalor and glaringly late eighties/early nineties fashion and hairstyles as opposed to its recreation of the many real-life boxing matches it depicts. Likewise, his re-creations of TV footage of the not-so-distant past evoke a time and technology so familiar, yet so distant.
Wahlberg, as the title character who ends up going for the title in film's final round, makes a lesser impression, which isn't to say he's no good or has failed; he's merely less eye-catching, more typical "Wahlberg" than anything else. Yes, it's apparent that the actor trained extensively and thoroughly bulked up for this part. But dare I say, this is the kind of role that demands such commitment. What makes Wahlberg successful here, if not triumphant, is that the role of Micky Ward allows him to once again bask in doing what he's always cornered the market on: crafting a character who is at once sensitive but utterly dangerous. Welcome back, Mark.
For a film set in a world as masculine as the world of boxing, it's all more interesting that the two female leads in the film who go into this with nothing to prove, and absolutely come out on top. Amy Adams as Micky's attractive bartender girlfriend Charlene and Melissa Leo as mom Alice impress throughout with signature heavyweight performances, completely worthy of the recent awards attention they've been receiving.
All this is a roundabout way of saying that the strong points of "The Fighter" lie in areas other than the norm for most "prestige pictures" or biopics. The plot is an overly familiar one. The lead actor's performance doesn't leave an impression (no matter how hard he hits). It all comes down to The Big Fight At The End, and on the whole, it's rather predictable. However, "The Fighter" emerges as a champion nonetheless. It may not be the best of the best, but for everyone who needs it to work, and even for a few who don't, it goes the distance.
- Jim Tudor
Likewise, much of the cast and crew of "The Fighter" find themselves in a similar professional predicament. Director David O. Russell, nowadays better known for his recorded tirade on the set of "I Heart Huckabees" and the disaster of his previous film attempt, the unrealized "Nailed" than his actual cinematic output, desperately needs to get himself back on the "promising director" chart he once shared with the likes of Paul Thomas Anderson, Spike Jones, David Fincher, and Darren Aronofsky (who served as a producer on this film). Likewise, Christian Bale, also known for an on-set blow-up last year, desperately needs to prove that he is in fact the bona fide actor the world once took him for prior to back-to-back-to-back block-of-wood performances in "The Dark Knight", "Terminator: Salvation" and "Public Enemies". As for Mark Wahlberg, we need only utter two words (and he knows what they are): "The Happening". By effectively working together on this grimy early nineties underdog boxing movie, these three accomplish, to varying degrees, what they needed to do.
The biggest winner is Bale. His wild-eyed junkie antics steal the show through and through. It's the heartbreaking bottoming out of his character that gives the film its positive weight. With an HBO documentary crew following him throughout, Dickie is convinced that they are chronicling his "comeback". When he discovers the true subject matter, painful humiliation extends well beyond himself, affecting everyone in his life. Completely immersed in his character, bringing every pathetic nuance to the table, Bale's portrayal of Dickie Ward is one of the best supporting performances of the year. It's fair to say that the more interesting story lies with his character rather than Wahlberg's.
Russell fares well if not extraordinarily so. Like his directorial peers (listed above), Russell has apparently artistically mellowed with age, opting for texture and nuance over sensory assault and attitude. "The Fighter" communicates most effectively through its dominant use of over-crowded white urban squalor and glaringly late eighties/early nineties fashion and hairstyles as opposed to its recreation of the many real-life boxing matches it depicts. Likewise, his re-creations of TV footage of the not-so-distant past evoke a time and technology so familiar, yet so distant.
Wahlberg, as the title character who ends up going for the title in film's final round, makes a lesser impression, which isn't to say he's no good or has failed; he's merely less eye-catching, more typical "Wahlberg" than anything else. Yes, it's apparent that the actor trained extensively and thoroughly bulked up for this part. But dare I say, this is the kind of role that demands such commitment. What makes Wahlberg successful here, if not triumphant, is that the role of Micky Ward allows him to once again bask in doing what he's always cornered the market on: crafting a character who is at once sensitive but utterly dangerous. Welcome back, Mark.
For a film set in a world as masculine as the world of boxing, it's all more interesting that the two female leads in the film who go into this with nothing to prove, and absolutely come out on top. Amy Adams as Micky's attractive bartender girlfriend Charlene and Melissa Leo as mom Alice impress throughout with signature heavyweight performances, completely worthy of the recent awards attention they've been receiving.
All this is a roundabout way of saying that the strong points of "The Fighter" lie in areas other than the norm for most "prestige pictures" or biopics. The plot is an overly familiar one. The lead actor's performance doesn't leave an impression (no matter how hard he hits). It all comes down to The Big Fight At The End, and on the whole, it's rather predictable. However, "The Fighter" emerges as a champion nonetheless. It may not be the best of the best, but for everyone who needs it to work, and even for a few who don't, it goes the distance.
- Jim Tudor
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