The Fighter
True story, boxing-drama with a stellar cast including Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale and Amy Adams. Directed by David O. Russell (Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees).
Follows working-class boxer "Irish" Micky Ward (Wahlberg) and his unlikely road to the World Light Welterweight title. Ward started off 14 and 0 in his professional career but, after a stretch of defeats in the early '90s, he quit. Three years later he returned with a vengeance, winning nine straight fights. His Rocky-like rise was shepherded by half-brother Dicky (Bale, in an Oscar and Golden Globe winning performance), a boxer-turned-trainer who rebounded in life after being KO'd by drugs and crime. Set and shot in Lowell, Massachusetts.
- Director:
- David O. Russell ('I Heart Huckabees', 'Three Kings', 'Flirting with Disaster')
- Writer:
- Scott SilverPaul TamasyEric JohnsonKeith Dorrington
- Cast:
- Mark WahlbergChristian BaleAmy AdamsMelissa LeoDendrie TaylorJack McGee
Reviews & comments
Variety
pressIf The Fighter feels like kind of a mess, lurching from one scene to the next as if the film itself has taken a few hits to the head, that's not entirely a bad thing.
The New York Times
pressWith solid bodywork, clever feints and tremendous heart, it scores at least a TKO, by which I mean both that it falls just short of overpowering greatness - I can't quite exclaim, "It's a knockout!" - and that the most impressive thing about it is technique.
Roger Ebert
pressThe weakness of the film is the weakness of the leading role. That's not a criticism of Mark Wahlberg, who has a quite capable range, but of how he and Russell see the character.
Hollywood Reporter
pressSo like much of this film, the viewer is turned into an observer. You never feel close enough to the action, either in the ring or in the kitchens, living rooms and tough streets where the story takes place. The characters engage you up to a point but never really pull you in.
Empire Magazine
pressThe Fighter might tread the well-worn route of almost every sports movie before it, but two very different but equally powerful performances combine to deliver an exhilarating fight-flick that, like its scrappy central character, is impossible not to root for.
Whether you regard this as an excellent movie about brothers and boxing or a cliche-ridden trot through familiar "underdog makes good despite tough background" territory - THE FIGHTER is undeniably entertaining and well-made drama. It may be soft-core compared to the likes of the ferocity of the superb RAGING BULL, but this ROCKY retread has some...
A cliched, paint-by-numbers underdog boxing flick, saved from mediocrity by an excellent off-the-wall and hyped up, but overly studied, Christian Bale. A fine, understated performance by Wahlberg, but his character isn't strong enough and I wasn't invested in him for a finale that just goes through the motions. For a real knockout watch The Boxer for Day...
Underdog boxers have it made in movies. Rocky and Million Dollar Baby both won Best Picture Oscars and fat purses. But they were fiction films that could make stuff up and add rah-rah without shame. The Fighter is a true story that has facts to stick to about ?Irish? Micky Ward, a blue-collar street rat from Lowell, Massachusetts, who bumped along nearly...
Christian Bale is fantastic. The whole issue of Micky Ward's boxing career being manipulated by his family before doing what he needs to do for himself is a good story. However, the film spends way too much time on family drama outside of the boxing. It is an episode of Brothers & Sisters, except in Boston. The characters are largely very...
Mickey “Irish” Wahlberg is boxing under the heavy shadow of his crack-smoking brother, renown for supposedly knocking down Suger Ray Leonard. Based on the true story, the film is less about actual boxing and more about the emotional tug-of-war between a deluded family and one man’s self-respect. David O. Russell directs the movie with confidence,...
...Then The Fighter should get the Statue of Liberty repainted in gold as an award. The acting is superb especially from Bale, the script is well written, it is gripping yet lighter at time, very thoughtful overall. Don't miss The Fighter, it ticks all the boxes for best movie of the year.
This a solid film about Mickey Ward played Mark Wahlberg building a boxing career and his brother Dicky played in an oscar worth performance by Christian Bale. Also Melissa Leo is solid as mickey's mother. Mickey's goal is to be welter weight champ. Dicky is brother is a bit of a dead beat but was a former fighter that knocked down Sugar Ray he finds...
Variety
pressIf The Fighter feels like kind of a mess, lurching from one scene to the next as if the film itself has taken a few hits to the head, that's not entirely a bad thing.
The New York Times
pressWith solid bodywork, clever feints and tremendous heart, it scores at least a TKO, by which I mean both that it falls just short of overpowering greatness - I can't quite exclaim, "It's a knockout!" - and that the most impressive thing about it is technique.
Roger Ebert
pressThe weakness of the film is the weakness of the leading role. That's not a criticism of Mark Wahlberg, who has a quite capable range, but of how he and Russell see the character.
Hollywood Reporter
pressSo like much of this film, the viewer is turned into an observer. You never feel close enough to the action, either in the ring or in the kitchens, living rooms and tough streets where the story takes place. The characters engage you up to a point but never really pull you in.
Empire Magazine
pressThe Fighter might tread the well-worn route of almost every sports movie before it, but two very different but equally powerful performances combine to deliver an exhilarating fight-flick that, like its scrappy central character, is impossible not to root for.
Whether you regard this as an excellent movie about brothers and boxing or a cliche-ridden trot through familiar "underdog makes good despite tough background" territory - THE FIGHTER is undeniably entertaining and well-made drama. It may be soft-core compared to the likes of the ferocity of the superb RAGING BULL, but this ROCKY retread has...
A cliched, paint-by-numbers underdog boxing flick, saved from mediocrity by an excellent off-the-wall and hyped up, but overly studied, Christian Bale. A fine, understated performance by Wahlberg, but his character isn't strong enough and I wasn't invested in him for a finale that just goes through the motions. For a real knockout watch The Boxer for Day...
Underdog boxers have it made in movies. Rocky and Million Dollar Baby both won Best Picture Oscars and fat purses. But they were fiction films that could make stuff up and add rah-rah without shame. The Fighter is a true story that has facts to stick to about ?Irish? Micky Ward, a blue-collar street rat from Lowell, Massachusetts, who bumped along nearly...
Christian Bale is fantastic. The whole issue of Micky Ward's boxing career being manipulated by his family before doing what he needs to do for himself is a good story. However, the film spends way too much time on family drama outside of the boxing. It is an episode of Brothers & Sisters, except in Boston. The characters are largely very...
Mickey “Irish” Wahlberg is boxing under the heavy shadow of his crack-smoking brother, renown for supposedly knocking down Suger Ray Leonard. Based on the true story, the film is less about actual boxing and more about the emotional tug-of-war between a deluded family and one man’s self-respect. David O. Russell directs the movie with confidence,...
...Then The Fighter should get the Statue of Liberty repainted in gold as an award. The acting is superb especially from Bale, the script is well written, it is gripping yet lighter at time, very thoughtful overall. Don't miss The Fighter, it ticks all the boxes for best movie of the year.
This a solid film about Mickey Ward played Mark Wahlberg building a boxing career and his brother Dicky played in an oscar worth performance by Christian Bale. Also Melissa Leo is solid as mickey's mother. Mickey's goal is to be welter weight champ. Dicky is brother is a bit of a dead beat but was a former fighter that knocked down Sugar Ray he finds...
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