Review

Review Date: 19-December-10
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Juju Judgment: Juicy

The Fighter (2010)

The trailer for The Fighter did not make me psyched for the film. It left me thinking that all underdog sports movies look alike and that this one was particularly redundant because Mark Wahlberg already went the rah-rah route in Invincible (2006). Proving that you can't judge a book by its cover (or a movie by a handful of clips), The Fighter emerges as a picture nobody should miss, a triumphant validation of its genre's potential. In telling the true story of Micky Ward, a boxer who beat long odds, it gets at the wry, painful, complicated intersection between family and self-respect.

Adding to his eclectic résumé, Wahlberg forms the calm center of a group of strong actors in meaty roles. Micky Ward grew up in the shadow of his half-brother Dicky (Christian Bale), a fighter who won the eternal admiration of blue collar Lowell, Massachusetts, by once knocking down Sugar Ray Leonard. Since his glory day Dicky has lost both chances and teeth to a crack addiction, but his stature has not diminished in the eyes of his siblings or his mother (Melissa Leo), who is now helping manage Micky's career. Despite genuine talent, this career is going nowhere. At 31 years old, Micky is best known as a guy who makes other guys look good as they blow through him on their way to the top. His life must change soon if he's going to be Somebody, and for his life to change his family's connections and traditions must be redefined.

The Fighter is directed by David O. Russell, whose wacky comedy Flirting with Disaster recently landed in the Jujube Spotlight. This too suggests an eclectic résumé, but Russell shows the same knack in both films for putting the fun in dysfunctional. As Micky starts relying on a new manager and a new girlfriend (Amy Adams, expanding her range), his mother delivers a series of love-and-indignation-filled tirades backed by a herd of daughters akin to a chorus of harpies. In one scene her brave, put-upon husband (Jack McGee) arrives in the middle of such a display, throws his truck into reverse, and races away double-quick. Bale, showing his ability to drop weight as well as any fighter, twinkles with idiot charm, which is no easy feat when one looks like a death's head.

Beyond Dicky's need to kick the crack habit (for which jail time comes in handy), there are no one-shot solutions to the challenges of Micky's situation. Along with a title fight, his goal is figuring out how to maintain ties to the people he loves without allowing their problems to swamp him. In a way all of these people are fighters — for relevance and against disappointment — but when it comes to Micky they are all on the same side. The payoff of The Fighter is twofold, addressing how dignity can be won by battle and weakness overcome by love.

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