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One
of the year’s best
films comes to Blu-ray
and DVD in
The
Fighter.
The movie draws poor
comparisons from
critics looking at
nothing more than
the boxing movie
genre, but it’s also
earned heavy praise
for being great,
because it is just
that… it’s a great
movie that will
leave you cheering
at the end. It’s
brilliant not
because of how they
showed and captured
the boxing action,
but because it’s a
character driven
story about flawed
people who keep
moving on with life…
because that’s the
only thing a person
can do.
The
Fighter
looks great, it
flows great, the
actors were amazing,
and pre and post
production choices
were all fantastic.
It’s a teriffic
movie.
Mickey Ward is the
younger brother of
Lowell, MA boxing
legend Dickey
Eklund. Dickey was
made famous locally
for knocking down
Sugar Ray Leonard
but since then is an
awful mess falling
into drugs and petty
crime. Dickey is the
trainer for his
little brother and
the two have a
loving but strained
relationship. Mickey
is known for being a
step-stool fighter.
Boxers use a victory
over Mickey to get
to better opponents.
It’s not thought
that he can be
anything more than
that. The movie
enters Mickey’s
story right before a
crucial match
against an opponent
that he knows he can
beat. When that
opponent gets
scratched from the
card, his fill in is
a guy that weighs 40
lbs heavier than
Mickey. Mickey’s
outmatched and he
loses the match
horribly while his
family gets the
money earned from
the fight for their
small-time
management ring.
Mickey then begins
to question his
mother Alice and
Dickey’s intentions
due to them
constantly taking
advantage of him.
This thought is only
pushed further by
Mickey’s new
girlfriend Charlene
Fleming (Amy Adams)
who wants him to get
away from his
family’s influence.
Eventually Mickey
starts on his own
path and he gets
joined by his
family, he no longer
lets them lead the
way in his life. He
lives his own life.
The
Fighter
is a tremendous
story based on true
events of the Mickey
Ward. And it
captures the realism
of a story like this
perfectly. It
doesn’t shy away
from the flaws of
the Ward family. It
doesn’t shy away
from Dickey’s
problems of being an
unreliable crackhead.
It doesn’t shy away
from Mickey being
unable to control
his own life. And it
doesn’t hide the
fact that Alice is
ignorant to her
sons’ problems. It
shows these problems
but it’s never felt
like its being
pushed down your
throat. You connect
with Dickey’s charm
and you’re able to
laugh at him and
feel awful for him
and his family for
what he’s putting
them through. Most
people can relate
with Mickey being
hopeless in a
situation that can
certainly be
controlled. He’s an
easy main character
to root for and
although I’m not a
huge Wahlberg fan,
he did a tremendous
job. This story is
character driven in
its purest form and
the performances
done by Wahlberg and
Bale makes it so.
Speaking of
Christina Bale, his
performance as
Dickey is amazing.
He went from being
the strong-chinned
muscle thick version
of Batman to a
thinned out
pale-looking
crackhead. His
performance in the
film can’t be spoken
of highly enough.
Bale was brilliant
throughout and
what’s scary is even
though this is the
best he can do right
now. You don’t feel
like he’s anywhere
near his ceiling as
an actor. He’s
fantastic. There’s
nothing negative to
talk about with this
movie, really I
could gush over how
great this movie is
for a solid three
pages. It’s that
good.
The Blu-ray features
on this film aren’t
overly impressive
but they are quality
features. There’s a
great commentary
done by director
David Russell.
There’s also a great
making-of featurette
that covers every
thinkable aspect of
the film and then
there are deleted
scenes and an
interview with the
Ward family about
boxing and their
experiences with it.
It’s a great story.
The
Fighter
is one of the most
impressive films to
come out in recent
years. It gets
compared to
Rocky,
but really it puts
Rocky
to shame outside of
its boxing scenes.
It’s a story about
family and
redemption that was
done perfectly. It’s
a great film that
demands to be
watched.
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