David O. Russell has been more of an indie movie director, with such movies as I Heart Huckabees and Flirting with Disaster. Even his war movie with George Clooney, Three Kings, wasn't the usual war movie we tend to see from Hollywood. So my hopes for The Fighter were quite high. Russell directing Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale in a boxing movie. Should be something unusual and more quirky, right?
Well, it really isn't. The Fighter is a story of Micky Ward, a boxer who isn't doing very well and Dicky Eklund, Micky's brother and trainer. Set in Massachusetts and based on a true story, the movie tells a story of the two brothers inside and mostly outside of the ring.
You know, there's a reason why you hear everyone praising Christian Bale in this movie. He's definitely the main reason to see it. His Dickie is energetic, crazy and absolutely the MVP of the movie. Melissa Leo playing the boys' mother got an Oscar for her role, but I didn't think she was anything that special in the role. But I think Mark Wahlberg should get his share of the kudos given to the acting in the movie, as his portrayal of Micky keeps the movie more grounded than it would be otherwise. Just because he's not as OTT as the other character doesn't mean Wahlberg's acting is any worse than the others.
Like I said before, I'm a big fan of Russell's movies, but this one didn't really work for me. There was nothing new in the story, it's basically a retread of Rocky, but this time based in real people. And Russell's direction was very basic and understated, which I suppose works for the movie, but it doesn't give it any personality of it's own. It just feels like it's going through the motions.
Executive Producer Darren Aronofsky was originally slated to direct The Fighter, but bailed out to do Black Swan. Good choice on his part, but I can't help but wonder how much better this movie could've been if it was by Aronofsky.
For some reason The Oscars seem to love boxing movies. There's Rocky and Raging Bull, both masterpieces, but then there's Million Dollar Baby and now The Fighter as well, all nominated for Best Picture. I know they're not about boxing as such, but that's pretty good odds for boxing movies, considering how rare they are. But The Fighter definitely doesn't deserve to be on that list, no matter how good the acting in the movie is. My score for The Fighter: 6/10
PS. The Fighter isn't on the Top 250 anymore. Must've fallen off since I started doing the list. Good riddance.
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