The Fighter (15)

Film

Drama

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Time Out rating:

<strong>Rating: </strong>3/5

User ratings:

<strong>Rating: </strong>4/5
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Time Out says

Tue Feb 1 2011

Hollywood’s century-long love affair with boxing, comeback stories and the struggles of the ‘common man’ continues with this entertaining if predictable ringside biopic. Mark Wahlberg plays ‘Irish’ Mickey Ward, the working-class slugger from Lowell, Massachusetts, whose rough road to sporting stardom in the mid-’90s was both helped and hindered by his ex-boxer brother Dicky (Christian Bale) and his tough-cookie manager mother, Alice (Melissa Leo).

The most notable thing about ‘The Fighter’ is its extreme and at times offputting diversity of acting styles: Wahlberg holds himself back as the quiet man at the eye of the storm, but  Bale’s twitchy, tweaked-out crackhead is as out-there a character as he’s ever portrayed, while both Leo and Amy Adams are on full scenery-chewing form as the sharp-tongued, mad-haired, leopard-print-clad women who rule Mickey’s life. Director David O Russell (‘Three Kings’) does a decent job of holding things together, but some scenes feel more like a thespian pissing contest than a representation of anything like ‘real life’, a situation not helped by some of the more laboured, class-conscious Barton Fink-isms in the script.

But ‘The Fighter’ is still a hugely entertaining watch, romping through its rags-to-slightly-better-rags plot with aplomb, throwing in a few brief but breathless boxing sequences, some superbly sketched (and terrifyingly dressed) supporting characters and a lot of snappy, street-smart dialogue. Russell’s visual sense is as strong as ever, creating a vivid, heightened portrait of ground-level life in what was then one of America’s roughest neighbourhoods. The result is a flawed, frequently ludicrous but overwhelmingly likeable film, old-school to the core and none the worse for it.

Author: Tom Huddleston

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Release details

Rated:

15

UK release:

Fri Feb 4 2011

Duration:

116 mins

Cast and crew

Screenwriter:

Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, Keith Dorrington, Scott Silver

Cast:

Melissa Leo, Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg

Director:

David O Russell

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Comments & ratings

Rated as: 4/5 (17 ratings)

  • After all the oscar buzz I was expecting something a little less average. I just find Mark Wahlberg a bit bland. Christian Bale's charismatic as Dicky but this film wouldn't make it into my top ten favourite Bale performances.

    Evie Sat Feb 5 2011
    Rated as: 3/5
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  • Interesting film but a bit predictable, especially in the stereotyped boxing scenes. Bale and Adams are both impressive but the film takes a while to get going. Worth seeing but not as good as the Oscar nominations would suggest.

    Steve Ellis Sat Feb 5 2011
    Rated as: 3/5
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  • Hugely enjoyable boxing movie. Bale is excellent as the junkie brother. What a family! Holy moley. Worse than anything seen on Jerry Springer, and quite amusing for it. It's easy to get behind Wahlberg's character, and once again staged movie sports actually beats the real thing hands down in terms of emotional involvement and dramatic tension.

    DV Fri Feb 4 2011
    Rated as: 4/5
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  • I agree with Tom Huddleston and “Mikeâ€�. I saw this a couple of nights ago and thought it was very formulaic. When I chatted to a friend online last night and mentioned I’d been to see The Fighter he guessed pretty much the whole story, and bearing in mind he doesn’t go to the movies and hadn’t seen a trailer or review, that’s pretty good going. His only prompt for the outline of the story was the poster he saw. So, yes, this film is predictable. I can see it’ll be popular with audiences, and the acting’s not bad, but that doesn’t mean it’s a “greatâ€� film, and it’s certainly not a “classic" - it’s way too predictable for that.

    Violet Fri Feb 4 2011
    Rated as: 3/5
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  • great film-------- but yet again huddlestone pulls out the classic "predictable" line...yip..indeed considerring its based on true events-- ward beat neary just like that,,I know,,I remember the whole @i really irish@ overtones at the time,,the commentary is actually the real dialogue delivered at the time, So yeh it is predictable Tom.Inas much as it follows the predictable path of events past.. Ignore this 'slight' and enjoy a basically good boxing romp

    jocky Thu Feb 3 2011
    Rated as: 4/5
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  • I was pleasantly surprised by this film. As TO says, the story’s a little predictable, but nonetheless packs a few punches. That said, the relationship with Wahlberg’s daughter barely surfaces before being killed off – why? Amy Adams is a great actress and I should imagine this role was pretty easy for her. The surprise here is Wahlberg, who previously I’ve thought as very bland – in this he’s a good actor, and the relationship with Amy Adams works very well. Tonight was one of the initial showings in London - Cineworld Fulham – and it was packed, so I imagine this will be popular for a few weeks. Recommended. Three stars, but unlikely to win anything at the Oscars.

    Mike Thu Feb 3 2011
    Rated as: 3/5
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  • A feisty Amy Adams, well staged boxing and Bales ott mannerisms over drive steal the show. Highly enjoyable but far too over familiar to get (oscar voters style) excited about. 7+/10

    scrumpyjack Wed Feb 2 2011
    Rated as: 4/5
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