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As soon as I started reading about this film, the first thing that came to my mind about The Fighter was that it just looks like another boxing film but is was something that did go pretty personal on a lot of levels. Admittedly, it is a lot like most boxing films: a story that is told about a boxer who was an underdog and became a great success but this did something that I think not many boxing films nowadays managed to do so brilliantly! What I mean by this is that this is a mixture of basically two classic boxing films - Rocky and Raging Bull. I have to admit, though, that this is such a predictable film with a climax was all but obvious from the very beginning but despite that, it was a great film!
The Fighter tells us the remarkable story of the rise of Massachusetts-born, junior welterweight title winner "Irish" Micky Ward. A determined pugilist whose career in the ring was shepherded by his loyal half-brother, Dicky -- a hard-living boxer-turned-trainer whose own career in the ring was nearly sent down for the count due to drugs and crime -- perennial underdog Irish Micky rebounded from a disheartening series of defeats to win both the WBU Intercontinental Lightweight title and the WBU Light Welterweight title thanks to a fierce combination of determination and hard work.
Ok, I am going to admit that Mark Wahlberg is not a brilliant actor but he does do a decent job in every film he has been part of. As far as The Fighter goes, his performance was nowhere near as fantastic as the rest of the cast within the film and I do think he is perhaps better in a supporting role; like his outstanding performance in The Departed. His performance was good, yes, but I think the role should have gone to someone better so not an Oscar worthy performance at all, really. Everyone knows Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Patrick Bateman and now the new John Connor but that was just for fame. However, in The Fighter he goes on to show how well he can act. He was almost if not completely unrecognizable as Dickie Eklund! I still can't believe it is the same actor in The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, American Psycho and Terminator Salvation. Christian looked really skinny in this one and had to lose weight which was part of the character seeing as Eklund was a drug addict and Bale had to lose weight for a previous role so that was an easy task for him. He should get the Academy Award for The Fighter because his performance really showed what he can do despite just starring in Hollywood blockbusters. For the past 4 years in a row, Amy Adams has starred in an contender where she either is nominated for an Oscar herself or starred in a film that has been nominated for one: Enchanted in 2007, Doubt in 2008, Julie & Julia in 2009 and now The Fighter in 2010. Her performance was absolutely fantastic! Her character in this film reminded me a lot of Talia Shire's character and performance in Rocky. Adams should get her third Oscar nomination in four years for The Fighter.
I had almost zero knowledge of director David O'Russell before I saw The Fighter but I think he is actually a really good director! I think where I was impressed with the filming of The Fighter the most is during the main boxing championship match because it was filmed like a real boxing film that you would watch on TV and the crowd were brilliantly directed as well as the actors as the boxers. Admittedly, the boxing scenes in The Fighter were better filmed than probably every other boxing film there has been. David O'Russell directed this film really well but I did think that David Fincher, Tom Hooper, Chris Nolan, Darren Aronofsky and even Danny Boyle did better jobs this year.
Overall, The Fighter is another fantastic boxing film that is, as I said, a mixture between Rocky and Raging Bull. Outstanding performances from the majority of the cast, well directed and a solid script so should be a strong Oscar contender. It is definitely the best sports film since Ron Howard's Cinderella Man.
