The Fighter

(2010)
Though I had heard this was a good movie, I dont particularly care for either Mark Wahlberg or Christian Bale. Bale at least can act, I just dont care for him. Wahlberg I personally feel is one of if not the most overrated actors in Hollywood today. But he keeps getting work and people seem to like him; apparently my views on him are in a minority (perhaps a minority of one). So I was sort of predisposed not to like this film, going into it almost with the attitude of, come on, do your job, make me like you. The film follows the pair, two brothers, Dicky (Bale) and Micky (Wahlberg), both of them boxers. Dicky had his moment in the sun years ago when he knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard; and after that pinnacle, he has fallen precipitously. Now hes a crack addict and a loser, but hes still the pride of Lowell, R.I. (the Rhode Island equivalent of Charlestown in Boston, it would seem, a lower class white ghetto). Micky, on the other hand, is an up-and-coming fighter, with some real potential in him, but he is constantly overshadowed by Dicky, who strains to be the center of attention. Their mother Alice (Melissa Leo) runs both of their careers, but Micky isnt ever really at the core of her concerns; she favors Dicky. When Micky starts seeing a local woman who tends bar (Amy Adams), he begins to see that maybe staying within the web of family isnt the best thing for him. In such a large and close-knit family, this leads to tension. The movie takes its time getting going, but once it does, it handles its subject very well. All three lead actors give very strong performances (and Adams, while her role is smaller, is excellent too). You dont really warm up to Micky like you should Wahlberg sort of underplays him here, but for a boxer he comes off as sort of weak, first being led around by his mother and then his girlfriend. Only at the end does he come into his own, but by then we more or less root for him because hes the only one in the film whos not a selfish jerk. Both Leo and Bale play less likable characters; Bale in particular gets to flash a little as the crackhead Dicky (a running gag where he leaps out the second floor window at the back of the crackhouse only to land on garbage bags and boxes grows funnier each time its used because whomever he is fleeing knows what hell do, and they just go and wait for him out back), and he gives a good, solid performance. Dickys a jerk, but he does learn his lesson. Leo is solid all the way through as Alice, who really doesnt understand Mickys resistance to her dominance and who is completely satisfied with her life the way it is; she never understands that anyone could want something more. Its a solid film with solid performances. I was a little surprised how good it was, but I still feel we should have been more in Mickys corner, and its not just my dislike of Wahlberg speaking there. Micky is strangely passive emotionally for a man who beats people for a living; he only makes the tough decisions when brought to them by someone else. Granted, he is able to synthesize a happy ending

by the completion of the film; but as a protagonist, hes lacking. Overall The Fighter is worth a look for some strong performances, but its not a great film, merely a good one. February 22, 2011