Title: The Fighter Director: David O. Russell Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams Aspect Ratio: 2.35.1 Studio: Paramount Pictures Genre(s): Drama Rated:       (For language throughout, drug content, some violence and sexuality)   Buy From Amazon.com: a / a / a / a / a

CONSUMER ADVICE

Parents, there is lots of violence, language, sex, and drug use. Not for children. Recommended for ages 17 and up.

Dickie Wayne (Christian Bale) was once a promising fighter. He was so good he actually got a chance to fight Sugar Ray Robinson and knock him down (or maybe Sugar Ray tripped...that fact is up for debate). Eventually drugs got him in trouble and his career ended before it could begin. Now his younger brother Micky (Mark Wahlberg) is a promising fighter himself, and Dickie is his manager. This arrangement has been made more out of brotherly love than because Dickie is a good manager. Indeed, “The Fighter” may have the title of an action film, but it’s really a family drama at heart. Walking into the movie I expected to see an underdog story. A modern day “Rocky” if you will.

Instead of a movie with non-stop fighting and punches, I saw an expertly crafted film about family and the turmoil they go through when expectations and dreams are shattered. Dickie was once a prominent fighter in the making, but now he’s a druggie. Micky knows this, but he lets Dickie be his manager because he looks up to his brother and respects what he was able to accomplish. Their mother (Melissa Leo) controls both of them with an iron fist, most likely because she wants to see both succeed so badly that she can’t see how one of them is holding them both back. The only one who can see this is Charlene (Amy Adams), who may be the only one able to make sense of the whole situation.

Are there fights in this movie? Of course, it is called “The Fighter” after all. But the most intense moments in the film don’t come in the ring, but during the battles at home. At one point Micky admits that he can’t have Dickie involved in his career anymore. At this point it should be obvious that this is the right thing to do and that the choice should have been made a long time ago. And yet...despite all the mistakes he’s made we like Dickie. We sort of feel bad that it has to come to the point it does. It’s to Christian Bales testament as an actor that he makes Dickie a likable person despite all the mistakes he’s made.

It’s also sort of poetic seeing that Bale has made some pretty embarrassing public mistakes as well, and now he’s playing a character who has made similar ones. I suspect he’ll get a well deserved Oscar nomination, though I hope the Academy nominates him in the Best Actor category over the Best Supporting Actor category like I fear. Amy Adams, Mark Wahlberg, and Melissa Leo are also at the top of their game, making these characters believable and complex. I suspect the people going in to see a film about fighting will walk away slightly disappointed. People being dragged to this film not expecting a great drama will be pleasantly surprised. Hm, now that I think about it, maybe this IS a modern day “Rocky!”