Kristin Reviews Warrior

If you asked anyone who knows me to look at the poster for Warrior and predict my interest in seeing the movie, I’m pretty sure 100% of them would guess a big “no.” No offense to Tom Hardy’s shapely muscle-bosom – I’m just not the girl who stands in line to see guys climb into a ring and beat on each other.

When the Oscar nominations were announced, I was pretty sure I had not even heard of Warrior. Turns out, I’d seen the poster and promptly forgotten about it due to a complete lack of interest. But, I live by a code, and that code dictates that I sit through the nominees for the major awards. So Netflix sent me the disc, and I watched it.

And, get this – I really liked it. In fact, following the opening scene, I texted this to Steve: “Opening scene of Warrior – really well written!” (That’s a direct quote.)

Warrior tells the story of two sons attempting to make a go at life after growing up with an alcoholic, abusive father (Nick Nolte’s Oscar nominated role). Both young men have found an outlet for their anger in professional mixed martial-arts fighting, which looks to be a sport in which participants attempt to punch or kick their opponents until they fall down, then use wrestling moves to subdue them. The film follows the standard fight-movie formula, complete with training montage (“even Rocky had a montage”) and climactic bout with all eyes watching to see the underdog beat the odds.

Without a strong script, this standard fight-movie formula is so standard and formulaic it’s not even enjoyable to make fun of it. Warrior happens to have itself a strong script. And, by that, I mean the characters are engaging and, as a result, the climactic bout is gripping and suspenseful. While the match-up in that final fight feels a little far-fetched, nothing else in the movie does, and that is enough to make the reach okay. The interaction between the brothers, and between the brothers and their father, has no Hollywood tinsel attached to it – it is deeply authentic and powerful. And when Tom Hardy’s Tommy Conlon channels his rage and anguish into his fighting , the effect is both frightening and heartbreaking.

Nick Nolte has a relatively small part in Warrior. He’s almost the actor supporting the supporting actor. But he is good and believable as a broken man filled with regret and immersed, not ironically, in an audio version of Moby Dick. But, while it is a fine performance, his character is not gay (sorry about the spoiler), so Nolte will go home empty-handed this year.

-Kristin
1.28.2012