Without giving too much away, “The Fighter” is a movie based on a true story about two brothers, Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and Dick Eklund (Christian Bale). Dick is an old time boxer whose claim-to-fame was that he knocked down Sugar Ray and he is the (self-proclaimed) “Pride of Lowell”. Mickey is his younger brother who is also a boxer who gets mistreated not only in the ring but also by his family. As the movie begins, Mickey has already been boxing for a little bit and recently has had a dry run where he has lost 3 matches in a row. Dick along with Police Sergeant Mickey Ward (played by himself) start training him to get him to become a better fighter and not just be a stepping stone for other fighter anymore. His mother, Alice (Melissa Leo) manages him and gets him gigs but seems to care more about her son Dick than Mickey. Through the movie, Mickey meets a bartender named Charlene (Amy Adams) and she stands up for him when nobody else will.
This movie was simply amazing. The storyline, drama, acting were all something to be appreciated about. This movie developed so many different emotions in me. Sometimes you wanted to cry, sometimes characters made you mad, and at other times the movie just made me crack up. It was the perfect mix between drama and comedic one-liners to lift the tension. The story was very engrossing also and got you to really understand the characters.
Christian Bale stole the show with his portrayal of Dickey Eklund. He really got into this role and at times I found it hard to believe that this was the same actor who plays Bruce Wayne in “The Dark Knight”. I have a new found respect for Bale that I do not have with many actors out there in this generation but he really showed how dynamic he was. Another amazing actress was Melissa Leo who played Mickey’s mom and manager. At time you loved her, sometimes you hated her but the one thing that stayed constant was that you saw how determined she was to take care of her family and in her heart she was trying to do what was best for everybody to be happy.
“The Fighter” is an amazing movie, an amazing story, and I would recommend it to anybody. Bale should definitely get the Supporting Actor Oscar for his role. If you haven’t seen the fighter yet than you should as soon as you can. This will most-likely be nominated for Best Picture and could compete against the top runners “Black Swan”, and “The Kings Speech”.
4.5/5
What do you guys think? Leave a comment or your opinion!
By the way, this is my first review so I am still learning here and there. I didn't want to spoil the movie so i didn't include as much plot as I wanted too. I will definitely take constructive criticism from anybody who wants to give me it.
