Theater Whore: The Fighter

So me and my best friend went out to see The Fighter. See, the week I saw True Grit we had planned on seeing either The Fighter or Black Swan. We actually had tickets for Black Swan but the seating was all fuckered so we ended up passing on it. Tonight The Fighter was in the cards, and I’ll be damned if this isn’t one of the best films I have ever seen.

This film stars Mark Wahlberg (Four Brothers, The Departed, The Other Guys) and Christian Bale (The Dark Knight Returns, 3:10 To Yuma, American Psycho) as real life boxers and brothers Micky Ward and Dickey Eklund. While Wahlberg’s Micky is trying to build a career his brother Dickey attempts (badly) to get his career back. His greatest moment was knocking down “Sugar” Ray Leonard at the age of 21. His comeback is hindered by his repeated drug use and habitual fuckedry.

A film crew is following him for his comeback. Yeah. Meanwhile Micky is losing fights, his mother is his manager and you don’t quite know what her intentions are, and his gaggle of sisters. I mean seriously. There are a lot of sisters. Though he knows his family is screwing him and his brother is a fuck up, Micky feels an obligation to keep them around. I felt so bad for this guy especially since I knew it was a true story. His daughters mom is a terrible fucking human. His chain smoking mother is annoying. His sisters are past crazy looking. His brother is on drugs. I mean…damn.

Now I know this doesn’t sound like the feel good movie of the year but believe me when I say there are plenty of laughs. Whenever you look up and see Dickey flying out of a window to get away from his mother you cant help but laugh. The fight scenes are amazing and you feel each punch. It felt like I was watching a real boxing match and this is important since I grew up watching the sport. As I watched I felt like I was really in this place with these people watching their lives occur. Simply amazing.

I need to also mention actress Amy Adams (Doubt, Julie & Julia, Talladega Nights) as Charlene Fleming. Great performance. When you look at her film credits you can see that she has been able to go seamlessly from drama, to comedy, to tear jerkers. I have never seen her in a role like this and she was just fantastic.

Go and see this film. I wont ruin the ending or bring up other plot points because I really believe everyone should see this while its in theaters. If at least two people from this film don’t get an award (and I hate award shows) then something is wrong with the world.