Film: The Fighter
Starring: Mark Wahlberg (The Lovely Bones and The Departed), Christian Bale (Public Enemies and The Prestige), and Amy Adams (Doubt)
U.S. Release: 2010 (rated R)
Director: David O. Russell (I Heart Huckabees and Three Kings)
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 103 minutes
Mark Wahlberg is a tricky actor to diagnose. He's shown glimpses of brilliance in hits like The Perfect Storm and The Departed. Yet, he's been dreadful in other films like The Happening and The Lovely Bones. Every time Wahlberg has a new release, I consider it a crap shoot. You never really know which actor is going to show up. On the other hand, director David O. Russell must always see "brilliance" when he watches his favorite lead actor. With Russell's latest release The Fighter, he's turned to Wahlberg as a major role for the third time now. And unfortunately, the result is something beyond what I expected.
The Fighter is based on a true story and set in the mid 1980s in Lowell, Massachusetts. Dicky Eklund (played by Christian Bale) is a local hero who lost his title shot against Sugar Ray Leonard years prior. However, Dicky's legacy is built around the debatable notion that he actually knocked the champ down during their fight. But a lot has changed since Dicky's glory days as a boxer. Numerous bad choices have sent him in a downward spiral. His crack addiction and inability to live a normal, everyday life have begun affecting his family. Micky Ward (played by Wahlberg) is Dicky's younger half brother. As close as can be, you'd never know the siblings didn't share the same father. Micky is a stepping-stone fighter trying to get his shot at a title, but his unreliable brother and camera-hog mother, Alice (played by Melissa Leo) are holding him back. It takes a hard-nosed girl named Charlene Fleming (played by Amy Adams) to help Micky gain the courage to sever his ties with his family and take one last run at the title.
At first glance, the trailer for The Fighter is quite deceiving. The film is as much about Dicky (Bale) as it is about Micky (Wahlberg). Both of these characters are fighting for something. Micky, obviously, is fighting for a title, but Dicky is in a fight against his addiction. Furthermore, the trailer portrays a tale of boxing and overcoming obstacles, but the movie is more a character piece than a sports film. The Fighter tells the audience every tiny detail of a story. In doing so, the pacing of the film becomes borderline unbearable. What is merely an hour and 45 minutes on screen, ultimately feels like an eternity. By the time The Fighter finally reaches its conclusion, the movie has already lost the audience's emotional connection.
Despite its lack of flare, The Fighter does give you many wonderful performances. Wahlberg offers an adequate portrayal of the young Micky Ward, and Melissa Leo and Amy Adams are even better in their supporting roles. But from start to finish, it's Christian Bale who ends up stealing the show. His character is difficult to stomach at times, but that's the director's intention. As the film progresses, Bale's charismatic yet desperate nature becomes somewhat lovable. The audience finds itself more wrapped up in Dicky's story than Micky's, which feels strange as a viewer. And even though the acting is great from top to bottom, The Fighter, as a whole, is far inferior than the sum of its parts. It's unfortunate, but its true. You wait for a climactic resolve that never reaches the heights you anticipate. For that alone, the film is a let down.
If you want to see a movie for it's acting, then check out The Fighter. If you want to be thoroughly entertained, look elsewhere.
Stars: 2 stars out of 4.
Starring: Mark Wahlberg (The Lovely Bones and The Departed), Christian Bale (Public Enemies and The Prestige), and Amy Adams (Doubt)
U.S. Release: 2010 (rated R)
Director: David O. Russell (I Heart Huckabees and Three Kings)
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 103 minutes
Mark Wahlberg is a tricky actor to diagnose. He's shown glimpses of brilliance in hits like The Perfect Storm and The Departed. Yet, he's been dreadful in other films like The Happening and The Lovely Bones. Every time Wahlberg has a new release, I consider it a crap shoot. You never really know which actor is going to show up. On the other hand, director David O. Russell must always see "brilliance" when he watches his favorite lead actor. With Russell's latest release The Fighter, he's turned to Wahlberg as a major role for the third time now. And unfortunately, the result is something beyond what I expected.
The Fighter is based on a true story and set in the mid 1980s in Lowell, Massachusetts. Dicky Eklund (played by Christian Bale) is a local hero who lost his title shot against Sugar Ray Leonard years prior. However, Dicky's legacy is built around the debatable notion that he actually knocked the champ down during their fight. But a lot has changed since Dicky's glory days as a boxer. Numerous bad choices have sent him in a downward spiral. His crack addiction and inability to live a normal, everyday life have begun affecting his family. Micky Ward (played by Wahlberg) is Dicky's younger half brother. As close as can be, you'd never know the siblings didn't share the same father. Micky is a stepping-stone fighter trying to get his shot at a title, but his unreliable brother and camera-hog mother, Alice (played by Melissa Leo) are holding him back. It takes a hard-nosed girl named Charlene Fleming (played by Amy Adams) to help Micky gain the courage to sever his ties with his family and take one last run at the title.
At first glance, the trailer for The Fighter is quite deceiving. The film is as much about Dicky (Bale) as it is about Micky (Wahlberg). Both of these characters are fighting for something. Micky, obviously, is fighting for a title, but Dicky is in a fight against his addiction. Furthermore, the trailer portrays a tale of boxing and overcoming obstacles, but the movie is more a character piece than a sports film. The Fighter tells the audience every tiny detail of a story. In doing so, the pacing of the film becomes borderline unbearable. What is merely an hour and 45 minutes on screen, ultimately feels like an eternity. By the time The Fighter finally reaches its conclusion, the movie has already lost the audience's emotional connection.
Despite its lack of flare, The Fighter does give you many wonderful performances. Wahlberg offers an adequate portrayal of the young Micky Ward, and Melissa Leo and Amy Adams are even better in their supporting roles. But from start to finish, it's Christian Bale who ends up stealing the show. His character is difficult to stomach at times, but that's the director's intention. As the film progresses, Bale's charismatic yet desperate nature becomes somewhat lovable. The audience finds itself more wrapped up in Dicky's story than Micky's, which feels strange as a viewer. And even though the acting is great from top to bottom, The Fighter, as a whole, is far inferior than the sum of its parts. It's unfortunate, but its true. You wait for a climactic resolve that never reaches the heights you anticipate. For that alone, the film is a let down.
If you want to see a movie for it's acting, then check out The Fighter. If you want to be thoroughly entertained, look elsewhere.
Stars: 2 stars out of 4.
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