Variety
If 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.
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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.
Less2010Rating: R16, contains violence, offensive language, drug use and sex scenes117 minsUSA
DramaSportTrue Story & Biography
- 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
The Fighter | Awards
Winner for Best Supporting Actor (Chrsitian Bale) at the 2011 Academy Awards and Golden Globes. Melissa Leo won for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards, and Best Actress at the Golden Globes.
The Fighter | Reviews
91%253 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® Score
All reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
The New York Times
With 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.
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Roger Ebert
The 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.
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Hollywood Reporter
So 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.
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Empire Magazine
The 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.
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The Fighter | Release Details
The Fighter is available to stream in New Zealand now on Google Play and Prime Video and Apple TV and Neon Rentals and Academy On Demand.