The Fighter

Drama, True Story
4 stars
Not fun to watch, but outstanding acting performances. Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg star as “Dicky and Micky” (I kid you not!), two very different but very loyal brothers in the boxing world. Wahlberg stars a boxer trying to get ahead, but his loser family holds him back. Bale plays the ne’er-do-well, crack addicted, has-been, older brother. Melissa Leo and Amy Adams provide memorable performances as the crazy Mom and foul mouthed girlfriend, respectively. For the first half of the film I realized my face was twisted in a sneer at what complete ignorant losers the large family was and frustrated at how they were dragging down Wahlberg. As far as movie-enjoyableness goes, I’d rather watch Rocky again, because that’s a much more inspirational story. But, I need not see anymore films this year to know that I just saw the Academy Award winner for Best Actor in Christian Bale. I’m not just saying “nominee”, I am saying “winner”! Not many actors so completely lose themselves into character with such intensity as he. Let me be clear, I positively hated his loser character, but his transformation was incredible. Oh yeah, kudos on all the Boston accents – and that’s a rare compliment! Excellent acting, but not my kind of movie.