The Fighter

by Gary Barnidge on December 18th, 2010

The Starting Lineup – Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg) Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale) Charlene Fleming (Amy Adams) George Ward (Jack McGee) Alice Ward (Melissa Leo) David O’ Russell (Director)

Gary’s Thoughts – This true story of Mickey Ward and his brother Dicky Eklund as boxers and brothers is truly something that was made for a movie. The movie has a lot of messages that are captured beautifully. I found this movie to be very satisfying on many levels, it has a great blend of comedy, struggle, and heart. Christian Bale truly stole the screen in this movie with his portray of Dicky Eklund. His mannerisms as a boxer and crack addict is depicted to a level where you believe that Bale is truly an addict who still has some boxing skills. The film truly captures a hard working town in Lowell, Mass in many ways from the way the people talk to the way they dress and even to the way people react to each other. The boxing scenes are something that looks like you are watching a real boxing match on T.V.

The Game Plan – The movie takes an look in early times of the boxer Mickey Ward (Wahlberg) and the struggles he faced with his family and career all while being trained by his brother a former boxer Dicky Eklund (Bale).

Touchdowns – The acting as a whole is remarkable with the performance of a lifetime by Christian Bale. He truly immerses himself in his role with his mannerisms and even appearance with him losing a lot of weight for his role as a skinny crack addicted former boxer. Amy Adams performance as a very forward person only wants the best for Mickey is delivered with great dedication. The story of everything he went through will keep you on the edge of your seat just rooting for Mickey throughout the movie. The way the camera truly looks like an HBO fight is a great touch.

Penalties – I didn’t see any negatives to this film.

The Game Winner – I can’t say enough about the performance of the actors/actresses that was delivered because they just draw you into the movie. The boxing scenes look amazing and have the feel of a real HBO fight with the way the cameras shot an overhead view as well as close ups of the fighters to show the punches. Christian Bale delivers a performance that possibly could and probably should give him many awards.

Game Summary – The film captures the struggles of overcoming adversity and being able even overcome your family at times. The messages that are given to the audiences through the film is something that isn’t shown in too many movies with such deep meaning like this film does. The story behind the rise of Mickey Ward is truly captivating and the performances of Bale and Wahlberg only helps to deliver the story in such a amazing way.