The Fighter (2010)

Over the years there have so many movies about boxers. Of course the most famous movies are the Rocky films and when you look at the pictures of The Fighter you’d expect a similar kind of movie. Although there are some things that are the same, the focus is not as much on the fighting as you’d expect.

The focus is not on training hard and becoming a champion, but on the actual people behind the fighters and their personal struggles. The Fighter is a bio-pic and is based on the story of “Irish” Micky Ward (played by Mark Wahlberg) and his older half brother Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale). Dicky is a boxer who is past his prime, but is still coaching his brother, although he has a drug problem. Micky is managed by his mother, who has her hand in everything and decides which choices have to be made to make some money. Their relationships with each other are not very easy and when others come into the picture and want to have their say about Micky’s career the pressure becomes too much.

So the focus is on the relationship between the chracters, which makes this movie more of a drama movie, with less of a focus on the sport. Some fights take place, but they serve as a background for the story to take place.

The acting is strong from the whole cast, but Christian Bale nails it and steals every scene he’s in. Just like he did for other films (for example The Machinist) he lost a lot of weight and even made sure he had a bold spot on the back of his had. He totally disappears in his rol of drug addict Dicky and is convincing from the start of the film till the end. I’m sure he will get an Oscar nod for it. Something I though which was really interesting is the fact that Darren Aronofsky would be originally directing this. I’m glad he didn’t as he instead chose to do Black Swan .

The Fighter gives an interesting and raw look into the lives of two boxing brothers, filled with drama. With the exquisite acting and gritty look it tells a fascinating story that’s worth watching.

Score: 8