Ostensibly, The Fighter is a film based on the career of real-life pugilist Mickey Ward. For better or worse, however, the viewing experience is often hijacked by the acting of the supporting cast.
For a very basic overview, The Fighter focuses on Ward (Mark Wahlberg), who is essentially a tomato can of a fighter being horribly mis-managed and held back by his family, most notably mother Alice (Melissa Leo). Despite some talent and a lot of heart, he can't seem to escape his low-class Boston roots. Nor can he escape the shadow of older brother Dickie Ecklund (Christian Bale), a former pro boxer turned crackhead. It is only after meeting Charlene (Amy Adams) that Mickey obtains the self-confidence to break away from his family and give his boxing career once last legitimate shot.
In terms of story/plot, The Fighter is relatively straightforward as sports films go. All the beats are fairly well choreographed and the underdog story is the main go-to thoroughfare. Not a bad approach, per se, but nothing all that remarkable (aside from the real-figure angle) either.
What make this a memorable film are a couple of acting performances. In a very real sense, one could call this Bale's film, as his Eckland is absolutely magnetic. Your eyes will be drawn to him in every scene. To perhaps a slightly lesser extent, Adams turns in a similarly great effort. She's the "voice of reason" in the midst of the Ward/Ecklund chaos and is equal parts supportive and feisty.
As good as those Bale/Adams performances are, in an odd way they also magnify the film's greatest flaw, that being a lack of a compelling protagonist. Wahlberg isn't a horrible actor, but he simply isn't in the same class as those around him here--and it shows. Perhaps playing to the real-life Ward had something to do with this as well. But the fact of the matter is that in a movie focusing on Ward, that performance is the weakest (or at very least most bland) of the bunch.
Overall, The Fighter is a solid boxing flick that is elevated to great in spurts thanks to some award-winning (literally in Bale's case) acting performances. Not necessarily an all-time classic, but not all that far away from it, either.
For a very basic overview, The Fighter focuses on Ward (Mark Wahlberg), who is essentially a tomato can of a fighter being horribly mis-managed and held back by his family, most notably mother Alice (Melissa Leo). Despite some talent and a lot of heart, he can't seem to escape his low-class Boston roots. Nor can he escape the shadow of older brother Dickie Ecklund (Christian Bale), a former pro boxer turned crackhead. It is only after meeting Charlene (Amy Adams) that Mickey obtains the self-confidence to break away from his family and give his boxing career once last legitimate shot.
In terms of story/plot, The Fighter is relatively straightforward as sports films go. All the beats are fairly well choreographed and the underdog story is the main go-to thoroughfare. Not a bad approach, per se, but nothing all that remarkable (aside from the real-figure angle) either.
What make this a memorable film are a couple of acting performances. In a very real sense, one could call this Bale's film, as his Eckland is absolutely magnetic. Your eyes will be drawn to him in every scene. To perhaps a slightly lesser extent, Adams turns in a similarly great effort. She's the "voice of reason" in the midst of the Ward/Ecklund chaos and is equal parts supportive and feisty.
As good as those Bale/Adams performances are, in an odd way they also magnify the film's greatest flaw, that being a lack of a compelling protagonist. Wahlberg isn't a horrible actor, but he simply isn't in the same class as those around him here--and it shows. Perhaps playing to the real-life Ward had something to do with this as well. But the fact of the matter is that in a movie focusing on Ward, that performance is the weakest (or at very least most bland) of the bunch.
Overall, The Fighter is a solid boxing flick that is elevated to great in spurts thanks to some award-winning (literally in Bale's case) acting performances. Not necessarily an all-time classic, but not all that far away from it, either.