Few things in life are more inspirational than an “against all odds, down on their luck” sports story. The only problem with such a tale is the frequency in which it has been told. The difficulty has increased exponentially over the years for a film to get the same emotional rise out of an audience like Rocky did back in the late 70’s or Hoosiers in the mid ‘80’s. In order to now crack into the elite of this genre, a film has to not only be incredibly moving, but it also must offer something unseen by its predecessors. And if it happens to be based on a true story, well that sure can’t hurt either.
The Fighter follows the career and personal life of professional welterweight boxer “Irish” Micky Ward. Unfortunately for Ward, the poor choice of opponents in the ring by his wayward mother/manager is not his only battle, as he must also fight out from the shadow of his older half-brother and trainer Dicky Eklund. Eventually, the combination of Eklund’s drug addiction and his mother’s poor management force Ward to shut them out of his career, which simultaneously advances and hinders his abilities in the ring.
If a story is captivating enough to be adapted into a film, there’s a decent chance many people have heard at least some of it, especially when it comes to professional sports. Therefore, anytime a film is based on a true story it’s usually the performance of the actors that carry most of the weight. For lead actor Mark Wahlberg, this film was a passion project. Like Ward, Wahlberg also grew up in a large family and a similar inner city of Massachusetts. Wahlberg did not have to rewire his brain completely to transform his persona for this film. He was already well suited for the soft spoken, modest, tough as nails, fighter from Lowell, Massachusetts. But it was Wahlberg’s physical transformation and attention to detail that is truly astonishing. Wahlberg has always been known to be fit and athletic, but mimicking a professional boxer’s body type and fighting style is a completely different animal. Since 2005, Wahlberg spent three hours every morning, even while taping his last six films, building up his body and studying Ward's movements to become his doppelganger. All the intense training certainly paid off in the final product, as Wahlberg emerges as a reflection of Ward's stout and powerful frame. The fight scenes are perhaps the most authentic of all time, even rivaling that of Cinderella Man, 2005. This asset is indispensable considering how the Internet and YouTube provide the public a magnitude of source material on the actual matches, necessitating the need for pitch-perfect fight sequences. Authenticity was obviously a paramount goal of director David O. Russell (Three Kings, 1999) as he even recreated the original HBO television presentation and used the actual audio commentary from the real fights.
Whatever length Mark Wahlberg reached in transforming his physical nature to play Micky Ward, Christian Bale stretched a foot farther to skew his personality into Dicky Eklund. Eklund is not a well-known sports figure; his badgering claim to fame is that he once went the distance with all-time great Sugar Ray Leonard, which earned him the nickname, “The Pride of Lowell.” Eklund’s addiction to crack derailed his boxing career and started to interfere with his relationship as Micky’s brother and trainer. In an effort to embody Eklund’s freefall, Bale’s speech patterns and body movements are a symphony of chaos, encasing what was once a finely-tuned athlete now succumbed to the horrors of drug addiction. And to add another merit badge to Bale’s already full acting sash, he once again throws his body into metamorphosis by dropping 40 pounds and reminding his core fanbase of his days in The Machinist, 2004.
The performances of Wahlberg and Bale are overwhelming, however not at all lost in this film are the accolades of Amy Adams (Julie & Julia, 2009) as Ward’s girlfriend Charlene Fleming and Melissa Leo (Conviction, 2010) as Ward and Eklund’s mother, Alice Ward. If Adams’ goal in this film was to break out of her wholesome and good-natured modus operandi, she accomplished it in spades with Charlene. Adams is surprisingly believable as the tough bartender chick who will not let herself or anyone she cares about be taken advantage. As for Leo, her masterful work as Alice walks the thin and fragile line between inordinate selfishness and uncompromising love for her two boys. During 90 percent of the film the audience would like nothing more than to see Alice vanish from Micky’s life altogether, and then in the blink of a Ward left hook, she’s a completely sympathetic and understood character.
The Fighter has many other layers to it than just the roller coaster ride of Micky Ward’s professional career; the boxing takes a backseat to what he had to deal with on a personal level. But the authenticity of the boxing serves as a necessary catalyst for the story, conveying the perception that Ward has everything to lose. Micky Ward’s epic battles in the ring made him an unforgettable boxer. The Fighter makes him an unforgettable person.
Story: 9.0
Acting: 10.0
Writing: 9.0
Captivation: 8.5
Replay Value: 8.0
Total = 8.9
The Fighter follows the career and personal life of professional welterweight boxer “Irish” Micky Ward. Unfortunately for Ward, the poor choice of opponents in the ring by his wayward mother/manager is not his only battle, as he must also fight out from the shadow of his older half-brother and trainer Dicky Eklund. Eventually, the combination of Eklund’s drug addiction and his mother’s poor management force Ward to shut them out of his career, which simultaneously advances and hinders his abilities in the ring.
If a story is captivating enough to be adapted into a film, there’s a decent chance many people have heard at least some of it, especially when it comes to professional sports. Therefore, anytime a film is based on a true story it’s usually the performance of the actors that carry most of the weight. For lead actor Mark Wahlberg, this film was a passion project. Like Ward, Wahlberg also grew up in a large family and a similar inner city of Massachusetts. Wahlberg did not have to rewire his brain completely to transform his persona for this film. He was already well suited for the soft spoken, modest, tough as nails, fighter from Lowell, Massachusetts. But it was Wahlberg’s physical transformation and attention to detail that is truly astonishing. Wahlberg has always been known to be fit and athletic, but mimicking a professional boxer’s body type and fighting style is a completely different animal. Since 2005, Wahlberg spent three hours every morning, even while taping his last six films, building up his body and studying Ward's movements to become his doppelganger. All the intense training certainly paid off in the final product, as Wahlberg emerges as a reflection of Ward's stout and powerful frame. The fight scenes are perhaps the most authentic of all time, even rivaling that of Cinderella Man, 2005. This asset is indispensable considering how the Internet and YouTube provide the public a magnitude of source material on the actual matches, necessitating the need for pitch-perfect fight sequences. Authenticity was obviously a paramount goal of director David O. Russell (Three Kings, 1999) as he even recreated the original HBO television presentation and used the actual audio commentary from the real fights.
Whatever length Mark Wahlberg reached in transforming his physical nature to play Micky Ward, Christian Bale stretched a foot farther to skew his personality into Dicky Eklund. Eklund is not a well-known sports figure; his badgering claim to fame is that he once went the distance with all-time great Sugar Ray Leonard, which earned him the nickname, “The Pride of Lowell.” Eklund’s addiction to crack derailed his boxing career and started to interfere with his relationship as Micky’s brother and trainer. In an effort to embody Eklund’s freefall, Bale’s speech patterns and body movements are a symphony of chaos, encasing what was once a finely-tuned athlete now succumbed to the horrors of drug addiction. And to add another merit badge to Bale’s already full acting sash, he once again throws his body into metamorphosis by dropping 40 pounds and reminding his core fanbase of his days in The Machinist, 2004.
The performances of Wahlberg and Bale are overwhelming, however not at all lost in this film are the accolades of Amy Adams (Julie & Julia, 2009) as Ward’s girlfriend Charlene Fleming and Melissa Leo (Conviction, 2010) as Ward and Eklund’s mother, Alice Ward. If Adams’ goal in this film was to break out of her wholesome and good-natured modus operandi, she accomplished it in spades with Charlene. Adams is surprisingly believable as the tough bartender chick who will not let herself or anyone she cares about be taken advantage. As for Leo, her masterful work as Alice walks the thin and fragile line between inordinate selfishness and uncompromising love for her two boys. During 90 percent of the film the audience would like nothing more than to see Alice vanish from Micky’s life altogether, and then in the blink of a Ward left hook, she’s a completely sympathetic and understood character.
The Fighter has many other layers to it than just the roller coaster ride of Micky Ward’s professional career; the boxing takes a backseat to what he had to deal with on a personal level. But the authenticity of the boxing serves as a necessary catalyst for the story, conveying the perception that Ward has everything to lose. Micky Ward’s epic battles in the ring made him an unforgettable boxer. The Fighter makes him an unforgettable person.
Story: 9.0
Acting: 10.0
Writing: 9.0
Captivation: 8.5
Replay Value: 8.0
Total = 8.9
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