After Million Dollar Baby, Cinderella Man, The Wrestler, all spawned since the legendary and commercially-super-successful Rocky series, comes the latest offering from David O. Russell (definitely his best yet), The Fighter. Starring Mark Wahlberg (The "Irish" Micky Ward) in the lead role, Christian Bale (Dicky Eklund) as his crazy half-brother, and Amy Adams (Charlene) as Micky's girlfriend.
Unlike the typical fare in the 'boxing' genre, the movie doesn't start off with Micky in bad shape, or in fading age; the same can't however be said of his half-brother, the one time 'pride of lowell', Dicky Eklund, whose 15 minutes of fame came years ago when he knocked over the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard. Dicky is a crack addict, extremely skinny, but strong of spirit. It's amazing how Bale turns out masterpiece after masterpiece, and moves so easily between being Patrick Bateman to playing Trevor Reznik, and then back to Bruce Wayne and John Connor, and from there, Dicky Eklund. AND he's going to be Bruce Wayne/Batman again next year. In terms of being physically able to move between a skinny-ass crack addict, and a bulked up superhero, I don't think anyone's ever come close to Bale. And i think he totally deserves the Golden Globe nomination for playing Eklund.
The cinematography is quite cleanly done and at times beautiful; it only helps that the script is a really strong one, and is based on a true story. There seems to be a sense of discord in terms of the relations within the family at the beginning, but it really deserves no more going into than has been done. The fight sequences are brilliant; they bring out the style of Ward's boxing, wearing opponents down rather than going at them all guns blazing. Its also very interesting how Eklund shapes us Ward's boxing skills. The relationship between the brothers is the backbone of the movie, and if it isn't, then i think it should be.
Music-wise, The Fighter is a treat! Its got an amazing soundtrack, ranging from The Rolling Stones, and the God-like Led Zeppelin, to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Aerosmith; the songs sync in very artistically with the visuals. The music is quite uplifting, and the sequences with Ward practicing his punches with beats playing in the background are highly recommended.
As for the story,
--------------------------------------------SPOILER ALERT----------------------------------------------
Dicky turns trainer to his brother Micky and encourages him to go through with a fight in which his opponent is switched for a much bigger one, at the last minute. Micky ends up waging a losing battle and is beaten up.
Enter Charlene, the girl from the local bar, on whom Micky had his eye. She urges Micky to stop depending on his family, who according to her, have been getting him into shitty fights. Micky agrees and confronts his mom (also his manager up until then) and the rest of the family. Dicky promises to get him money to train but tries to rob people for the money and gets beat up by cops; Micky tries to get involved, and the cops break his hand. Dicky lands up in jail.
The rest of the story revolves around how Micky gets back to boxing and how the brothers get together again, and I'm not telling you anymore cause you ought to watch it. And if you're not going to download it for free off the internet, i suggest you buy it.
Music-wise, The Fighter is a treat! Its got an amazing soundtrack, ranging from The Rolling Stones, and the God-like Led Zeppelin, to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Aerosmith; the songs sync in very artistically with the visuals. The music is quite uplifting, and the sequences with Ward practicing his punches with beats playing in the background are highly recommended.As for the story,
--------------------------------------------SPOILER ALERT----------------------------------------------
Dicky turns trainer to his brother Micky and encourages him to go through with a fight in which his opponent is switched for a much bigger one, at the last minute. Micky ends up waging a losing battle and is beaten up.
Enter Charlene, the girl from the local bar, on whom Micky had his eye. She urges Micky to stop depending on his family, who according to her, have been getting him into shitty fights. Micky agrees and confronts his mom (also his manager up until then) and the rest of the family. Dicky promises to get him money to train but tries to rob people for the money and gets beat up by cops; Micky tries to get involved, and the cops break his hand. Dicky lands up in jail.
The rest of the story revolves around how Micky gets back to boxing and how the brothers get together again, and I'm not telling you anymore cause you ought to watch it. And if you're not going to download it for free off the internet, i suggest you buy it.
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