The Fighter: Movie Review

The Fighter is not about boxing. It is about triumphing over every possible problem you are forced to tackle every single day of your life.
Based on a real life story, ‘The Fighter’ is predominantly a story of a family which struggles but eventually succeeds at sticking together inspite of issues that continue to tear apart their professional, financial, personal lives and relationships.
Based on the lives of boxer brothers Dicky Eklund, Micky Ward and their huge family, the film pays an ode to the sense of belonging the two brothers share in spite of being polar opposites of each other.
Dicky (Christian Bale), the faded boxer and a local boxing hero of the past, is content being on crack and then coaching younger brother Micky (Mark Wahlberg) when he’s not on crack. Dicky is intuitive, spontaneous and reckless.
Other than fighting his opponents in the ring, Micky battles with his inner-self every single day as it prompts him to keep his family aside in order to move ahead professionally.
Their mother Alice (Leo), aggressive and practical knows Micky needs to box to make ends meet for their family, even if the opponent is 20 Kgs heavier! With no hopes from Dicky, Alice comes stronger on Micky and he thus finds solace and peace in Charlene (Amy Adams) who supports and frisks him away from his demanding family and wasted brother.
How the family sticks together inspite of the odds and emerges victorious forms the story.
The Fighter is not about boxing. Boxing is just a backdrop. The film is about triumphing over every possible problem you are forced to tackle every single day of your life.
Be it Alice struggling to find better opponents for her son to fight, Dicky fighting his addiction to crack, Micky fighting his urge to cut ties with his family or Charlene fighting for the wellbeing of her lover. Every character in the film will remind you that one has to fight his/her battle no matter what the cause or consequences if you need to be at peace with yourself.
The Fighter has nothing new to offer in terms of story or storytelling. Its brilliance lies in its portrayal of flawed and thus realistic characters.
After witnessing the antics of Micky’s family, it does cross your mind several times as to why didn’t the director refine the coarseness of his film’s subject and setting to heighten the emotional connect needed but in the end it all works just fine. You feel for every character inspite of their rough exterior and whacked out behaviour. Alice and her daughters even break into a cat fight with Charlene in one scene!
Mark Wahlberg lets his eyes do the talking. Though he doesn’t say much, his eyes convey the pain, emotional turmoil and anguish, his character goes through. Understated and effective, he plays his role with conviction.
Amy Adams swears and plays this brash Erin Brockovich like babe ‘Charlene’. As a badass she impresses but her performance doesn’t seem Oscar material. Melissa Leo (nominated for the supporting actor Oscar too) as Alice is the one who shines more as the mother who finds herself helpless and stuck between choosing what’s best, fair for both her sons and family.
Christian Bale steals the show however as he renders one of his career best performances. When the film ends, alongside the end credits, you see the real Dicky Eklund and feel awed by Bale’s dedication for his craft for he truly gets into the skin of his character in every sense of the word. The language, physical resemblance, mannerisms... he gets it all right. Best Actor nomination was more apt than Best Supporting but no matter what the category, Christian should take home the Oscar this year. He truly deserves it.
The Fighter is a must watch, especially if you are a Christian Bale fan. It has drama, emotions, action, heartache, humour and a soul.