Kristin Reviews The Fighter

I’m not a big sports fan, and of the sports I consider myself not a fan of, boxing is the one I have the least amount of fandom for. The idea of two guys (or chicks) beating on each other until one can’t get up again seems like some kind of juvenile, schoolyard activity – not a spectator sport worthy of a following.

That said, I do have to admit that boxers make compelling motion picture subjects. Perhaps because the sport is so raw and intensely charged, the individuals who participate in it, in cinema at least, tend to be complex and compelling. I suppose the sort of person who would want to devote his life to such a brutal game has got to have some issues, and issues are the ingredients of a well-developed character.

The Fighter features two vastly different, but equally intriguing, boxers: Mickey (Mark Wahlberg) and Dickey (Christian Bale). Mickey is thoughtful and filled with inner strength. His brother, Dickey, who has chosen a crack habit over a promising career, buzzes around Mickey, and everyone else, with manic energy and almost religious passion for the sport. Between them, they make one really good boxer.

The movie essentially follows Mickey’s struggling career, but it is not necessarily about Mickey. It is about Mickey’s relationships with those around him, most notably, with his brother. I was hooked from the first moment the two appeared on the screen, and never left the edge of my seat until the end.

Wahlberg, whom I have seen in some terrible movies but have never seen turn in a disappointing performance, is superb as the unassuming Mickey. The actor possesses the charisma and subtlety to bring to life a role that could, in less capable hands, disappear on the sidelines. Because Bale, as Dickey, exhibits a gravitational pull that is impossible to resist. Every moment Bale is on the screen almost seems to crackle with electricity. The fact that Wahlberg, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo, and the other supporting actors even remain visible in the glare of such intensity is a testament to their enormous talent.

The Fighter will be nominated for Best Picture, and rightly so. I would not be at all surprised to see Wahlberg and Amy Adams nominated, and I’m certain Melissa Leo will earn not only a nomination, but possibly an award. Christian Bale will be nominated, and he will win. Although the entire film is solid, it is Bale’s performance that lingers long after the rest joins the ranks as “another compelling boxing movie.”

-Kristin
12.15.2010