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On paper, “The Fighter” reads a lot like every underdog or comeback story that has ever been produced in Hollywood.
However, it is not, thanks in large part to its terrific cast spearheaded by Mark Wahlberg’s performance as Lowell, Massachusetts native and real life boxer Mickey Ward.
The real reason to buy a ticket is not Wahlberg, rather supporting actor Christian Bale who gives the year’s best performance as Ward’s washed-up, crack-addicted Dicky Eklund.
The film opens with the pair bouncing around their hometown as two documenters trek behind them, capturing their every move and noting how Dicky is “the Pride of Lowell” something he wears with fake honor.
Bale wastes no time—he is magnetic from the opening scene all the way to his poignant, tear-filled sign off at the film’s conclusion.
The duo hit the gym for some sparing, as Dicky—fresh from a quick crack fix—continues to boast about his biggest career accomplishment—knocking down the legendary Sugar Ray Leonard.
Dicky Eklund lives in his glory days, Mickey tries to write his own career, but is overshadowed by his stepbrother’s charismatic personality and his mother, Alice Ward (the divine Melissa Leo), who propels the dysfunction surrounding Ward even more.
Dicky and Alice control Mickey’s career, setting him up with bad fights and discouraging him from leaving Lowell to go train in Las Vegas year round.
Early on, it is clear to the audience that Mickey is fighting an uphill battle with his two fists as the only weapons in his entire arsenal.
He finds support, and love, in the loud-mouthed Charlene Fleming (Amy Adams), a local bartender whom Mickey’s seven sisters deem as “MTV trash.”
Adams, like Wahlberg, Bale and Leo, excels and is genuine in her performance. There is no doubt leaving the theater, this is an actor’s movie, not a scripted, uplifting drama.
Each role is carried out in a unique fashion and just when you didn’t think anything could surprise you about the film, something does – whether it is Charlene brawling with all of Mickey’s sister on her front porch or Dickey singing the Bee Gee’s to cheer up Alice after she has to pick him up from his crack den.
While things do spin out of control for a while, it becomes blatant that Wahlberg’s Ward is the saving grace of not only this family, but the entire city of Lowell.
Like he did in the film Invincible, Wahlberg makes himself look like a viable athlete—he trained for over five years for the roll—and wins the audience over with genuine realism that parallels the real Mickey.
Although he cleans up his act and spits out the failure that was brought to him from Dicky and Alice, Mickey still understands that in order to be a great fighter, he needs his family support as well as experience.
The motley Ward crew travels across the pond for the film’s final fight—all of which are filmed masterfully using HBO’s camera to bring an authentic feel in the ring.
The predictability of the film is moot, because the people who embody the real life characters outshine any flaw that one can find.
Someone give Bale and Leo their awards now, because there won’t be any performances more deserving this year.
