The Fighter ~~~~1/2

Ok, so some people like ‘sports’ films and some don’t. Luckily, with David O Russell’s ‘The Fighter’, this isn’t really an issue. Like the recent, and very brilliant, ballet orientated ‘Black Swan’, this film smashed any preconceptions that I might have had before going to view it. All I knew was that Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale starred and that some boxing would be involved somewhere along the line. This turned out to be ok too, as I like all three, including the boxing!

So, to start at the very beginning… First up, Mark Wahlberg. Hasn’t he come a long way? I haven’t really been able to shake my very first images of him as Marky Mark, with his bloody ‘Funky Bunch’… what a wally, but over the last decade, he’s really grown on me. I was reminded that his first, or at least one of his earliest, features was as Dirk Diggler in ‘Boogie Nights’. What a stand up role that was and now here he is in ‘The Fighter’ putting on a rather sterling performance as a work-a-day scrapper in the ring, come back kid. Wahlberg probably does one of the best ‘everyman’ turns in cinema at the moment and it’s difficult not to afford him quite a lot of sympathy in his role as the hen-pecked and somewhat overlooked brother/son/boxer ‘Irish’ Micky Ward.

Set in the 1980’s, and with really great (and I mean appropriate and evocative rather than ‘good’) contemporary music, costume design and period props, the story follows the formally quiet and unobtrusive life of Micky who, with the help of his pretty dysfunctional half-brother, mother/manager, father and clutch of half-sisters, trains up to take a shot at the world light welterweight boxing title.

The key here is that his half-brother, Dicky, played quite amazingly by Bale, now a drug addict, general layabout and wannabe trainer was once a celebrated pro-fighter with a certain legacy keeping him going. Although, after a Rocky start (some pun intended!) some questions remain as to whether Micky’s really good enough and has a future in the ring, the real focus is on the brothers’ relationship. Micky just wants to get on and knows in his heart that his brother isn’t always the best or most reliable person to train him – there are a few incidents when Dicky is out for the count in his drug den or trying to avoid being found out for being late etc, that are both touching and funny. As the film progresses, we follow the brothers’ and their respective ups and downs both as individuals and as a fighting, team.

Seconds out, round two!

Although Wahlberg is great in his part as the unassuming but focused Micky, it’s really an ensemble cast. Amy Adams plays the girlfriend who acts as the catalyst for Micky’s ambition and drive to go for the title, and in this role which could have been a little bit ‘tart with a heart’ of sorts, she manages the part extremely well. An educated girl with a little drink issue, Adams’ character has to stand up to the ‘family’ in order to be both with the man she loves and accepted into the close-knit world of Micky and his boxing-ties. And stand up she does, to the benefit of both their relationship and his boxing future.

I also have to point out that the actors playing Micky’s family are rather special. I have no idea whether his numerous sisters are played by professional actresses or local people but Christ, they were great, as were the actors who played his parents as well as all the other ‘local’ people in the film. Really great casting. These people are either unknowns or underused. Wake up casting directors – this approach is so fresh! Top marks. Everyone was great.

It can’t be denied that Christian Bale continues to be brilliant. Just when I think he might be going off the boil, he hits back with something even more gut-wrenching, funny, wicked or marvellous. Not only does Bale truly seem to inhabit his characters, which here is pretty much on the money as he’s playing a real life person, but his physical appearance changes wildly with each character transformation. Not only has he, once again, lost a tonne of weight, but with Dicky, he’s lost a shit load of hair, too. I could barely watch him when he first came on the screen. I wanted to feed him up and look after him but then I was gently reminded that by the time the next Batman film crops up, he’ll be looking buff and fit with a full head of hair.

Seconds out, round three!

Director Russell has a very neat touch. The whole film could easily have slipped into cheesy, smultzy Rocky territory but instead lies in that very happy, and quite rare, place of ‘just right’. Although based a true story, with an ending that even a five year old could guess correctly, I didn’t care a jot. The pace of the film is spot on, allowing the story to unfold at a natural rate. The characters are so well observed (I have to guess as they are based on real people) that I really bought into the whole world in which they lived. So much so, I would like to have visited!

Having directed a variety of films in the past, ‘I Heart Huckabees’ and ‘Three Kings’, in particular of note, David O Russell has done rather a great job. The direction is dynamic but also, where appropriate, intimate. The cinematography was also great. Evocative and realistic. Great lighting, too.

Seconds out, last round!

The film is exciting, heart-warming, very funny and surprisingly touching without the usually offensive ‘Hollywood’ feel good factor glitz. If you do go and see this little gem, promise you’ll stay through the credits. You’ll be introduced to the real Micky and Dicky and then you’ll understand why, primarily, Christian Bale as well as Wahlberg, should be so highly praised for their performances.

I highly recommend this film and can’t wait to see it again as soon as it’s out on DVD.

I can’t believe how great the last month of cinema viewing has been. Not since 2008 have things been so great at the local picture-houses’. And we haven’t even seen ‘True Grit’ or ‘Paul’…

Bring it on! Ding-ding.

Viewed: 2nd February 2011