The Fighter, is a drama about boxer “Irish” Micky Ward’s unlikely road to the world light welterweight title. His Rocky-like rise was shepherded by half-brother Dicky, a boxer-turned-trainer who rebounded in life after nearly being KO’d by drugs and crime.
The making of Mark Wahlberg’s ‘The Fighter‘ is a true case of endurance and not giving up. This film has had so many ups and downs along with a change of directors from Darron Aronofsky to David O. Russell and Wahlberg taking a massive paycut as Producer to make sure it got made. We at Best Movies Ever love any sports movie, but boxing ones really get our attention as we know personally how hard it is to get a biopic made, let alone one based on a sports figure who isn’t the most heroic. We would have loved to Aronofsky’s take on this story of a man who is surrounded by a family who just want him to succeed so he can support them and be their personal ATM.
‘The Fighter’ is a true story about light welterweight boxer and perennial underdog “Irish” Micky Ward and is more of a domestic drama about blue-collar brothers struggling to stay a family while drug addiction and a family that’s about as dysfunctional as it gets than a boxing film. This is where we wish Darren Aronofsky could have stayed onboard as a director as he proved in ‘The Wrestler’, he knows how to mix a personal story while keeping the sports in a sports film.This film reminded me of a story I did for ESPN Magazine about ‘Baby’ Joe Mesi, who was considered the third largest franchise in Buffalo, New York. He had suffered a major concussion in a Las Vegas fight that would have secured hit title as Heavyweight champ of the world, and the people around him and the city were encouraging him to get right back into the ring. This was after it was discovered that he had suffered a brain bleed, but the people around him were still saying he was fine to get back into the ring even though another blow in the head could kill him. This is the type of family that surround Micky Ward.
Christian Bale lost a lot of weight for the role of Dickie Eklund, Micky Ward’s older half-brother who was christened “The Pride of Lowell” simply for surviving—not winning—ten rounds with Sugar Ray Leonard. This is the type of struggle the town of Lowell is where just surviving will get you listed as a hero, and this is the theme of The Fighter. Bale seems to actually be having a great time playing this role of a drug addicted has been who gets by solely on his charm. It’s been so long since we’ve seen the surly actor smile, you forget that it’s him in the role since he has truly embraced his character so fully. Dickie is so delusional that when HBO documentary crew comes to film him, he thinks it’s a special about him as a sports figure and not as a cautionary tale about drug addiction.The only person in Micky’s life who isn’t under these delusions is college dropout Charlene (Amy Adams) who winds up helping the man see his family for what they truly are. Now some critics are saying that Micky should have seen this a long time ago, but if anyone ever seen a family like this or even had one, it’s easy to see how the blinders stay on for so long as we don’t want to admit our family could be so messed up and are only wanting to use them. Naturally, when his family realizes that she’s onto them, they immediately work to get her out of Micky’s life.What’s interesting and sad about Wahlberg’s Mickey is that sis greatest fear is of failure. He wants to live up to an image Dickie put in his mind when he was a kid, an impression so strong that he doesn’t realize that it ended long ago. Charlene knows what it’s like to rebuild your life and she struggles to help Micky find his dream while also helping him learn how to say no to a family that feels it’s only way to riches is through their son who’s idea of fighting is more about standing and taking the punches from his opponent over having a real skill in the ring.
Russell jams the big fight sequence into the end of the film and using tv cameras, wants us to feel like we’re watching the actual fight. All he accomplishes is having the audience feel like they’re outside looking in like most of the film. He’s much better at dealing with the family surrounding Micky, and while most of the time we are feeling like outsiders through most of the film, by the end, we want to help Micky leave his family. If you have a friend or loved one who is being affected by a family like Micky’s, taking them to see this film, would be the best Christmas gift you could ever give them.The Fighter is being platformed for awards season, but while it may pick up a nomination or two, it should have a much better life on dvd/blu-ray.
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