The Fighter

Verbal punches hit harder than physical ones in The Fighter, the latest underdog boxing movie to hit the big screen. Based on the true story of eventual welterweight champ "Irish" Micky Ward, The Fighter is more about the challenges of familial relationships than the challenges of taking multiple jabs to the head and body. There are still several fighting sequences, but in an ironic twist, the fighting of The Fighter turns out to be the weakest weapon in its narrative arsenal. Inside the ring, this movie is decent and watchable, but when it travels outside the ring, it transforms into a big, beautiful bruiser filled with humour and heart.

That sense of humour and presence of heart fills the frames of the movie with excitement and energy right from the very start. The first character we meet is the ex-boxer and current crack addict Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale), who doubles as half-brother and trainer to the younger, more soft-spoken Micky (Mark Wahlberg). It's fitting that Bale's character is first on camera, because he steals the show before Wahlberg even shows up, which is especially remarkable considering that the opening scene introduces Micky just a minute or so in.

Delivering his best performance since the 2000 thriller American Psycho (actually, this might be the best performance of his career), Bale is nothing short of miraculous in the role of a man whose commitment to crack is matched only by his love for his family. Dicky is such an engaging character for a variety of reasons, partially because he's so funny (Bale's charisma is working overtime in his gaunt frame) and also because he clearly has a big heart. Dicky isn't your average junkie stereotype and Bale never plays the character in simple, obvious fashion.

Every note that Bale hits is flawless, from the look on his face when his mother catches him at the tail end of a window-jumping escape from a crack house to a final scene where he begins to shed a few tears. This is a poignantly powerful performance and it's easily among the finest acting I've seen all year. If The Fighter had nothing more to offer beyond Bale's work, then it would still be well worth watching. Bale is the highlight, the best of the best here, but he's not the only one working hard to make sure this story emerges triumphant.

Wahlberg is very good, as well, letting his sweet, innocent charm do the talking and communicating his internal conflict with effortless ease. His is arguably the most simplistic performance of the main cast, since he plays Micky with the same beleaguered sense of emotional weight that he has brought to many past roles. But Wahlberg possesses a grand ability to pull us into the ring with him, into his situation, where we can see eye-to-eye and feel his joy, his pain, his frustration. Micky is certainly the least flashy of the movie's central characters and Wahlberg is the right man for that role.

Undergoing another tumultuous transformation is Melissa Leo, who plays Micky's mother and manager, a woman with big hair and bigger attitude. Leo's character is a passionate woman who will do almost anything to keep her family close and her sons happy. She's tough and scary at times, but like the other characters in The Fighter, she isn't thinly etched or plainly predictable. This woman cares, even if her way of showing it is occasionally a bit backwards. Adding to many of Leo's scenes are the seven disturbing daughter characters, a group of crazily coiffed women who appear to think and act as a single entity. They're hilarious and another key piece of The Fighter's comedic puzzle.

Rounding out the hugely impressive cast is Amy Adams, who sheds her often meek persona (on gullible display in movies like Junebug and Doubt) to play a gritty bartender who falls for Micky and becomes one of his biggest supporters. Adams is in unexpected territory here, firing off curse words with absolutely authentic accuracy. I didn't even know she knew how to swear! This is far from the naïve roles she was once defined by, but the sheer refreshing quality of her role is not the only reason she's so fun to watch here. She has genuine chemistry with Wahlberg and she gets to go head-to-head with his family, while also exhibiting an extreme amount of adoration for the man who will be champ.

Director David O. Russell has cast this movie so well and has then extracted so many exquisite performances from the actors that The Fighter fully succeeds in terms of character and story. His decision to shoot the boxing sequences as if they're being viewed through a television camera is a novel one, but the final fight is marred by hokey slow-motion and clichéd attempts to drum up underdog-driven suspense. We've seen this part of the movie many times before and this particular aspect of The Fighter doesn't really break any new ground.

But such is the unique joy of this touching movie, where the title conjures images of what happens inside the ring, while the true focus is on what happens outside, on the streets and in various homes. Shot on location in Lowell, Massachusetts, the world of The Fighter appears achingly archaic, rusted and rundown, but it’s also oddly inviting and entirely believable. Every area feels lived in and worn, a relic with years of growth and history trailing behind it. This honesty of geography is mirrored by the earthy performances that meaningfully inhabit the movie's frames.

Utilizing his cast with expert precision, Russell has crafted a very strong fight movie that stands tall because of its attention to character. This is a very enjoyable movie and the cast delivers on so many levels that this Fighter proudly walks away a winner. There are many performances worth praising, but without being greedy and certainly without taking anything away from the other actors, this is Bale's movie. He is in his finest form here, providing the movie with its best opportunity to land that devastating dramatic punch. The fighting sequences may be weary and repetitive, but The Fighter is still a furious success. It has Christian Bale in its corner, pushing the movie upwards, delivering a performance of such moving magnitude that the entire picture soars to the heights of euphoric entertainment.