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I saw this before really knowing who Russell was as a director. This movie is ridiculously in my wheel house. Its a sports film, which you have to mess up pretty badly to get me to hate. It is about broken people but still has plenty of humor and hope to offer. It is an ensemble full of great performances.It is extremely well written which for my blind eye usually goes hand in hand with the great performances. In fact as I am typing this I am realizing it is a wonder that it isn't in my top 10-25. It is in my favorite 100 and was my favorite Russell film before American Hustle came along.
The Fighter is most definitely an ensemble but the relationship between Mickey(Wahlberg) and Dicky(Bale) is at its heart. Dicky is played amazingly by Bale and is the most tragically flawed character in a film that is full of very flawed people. Watching Mickey struggle with who is brother was, is, and wants him to be is incredible. Mickey finds something to cling to pretty early in the story in Charlene(Adams). She is far removed from who Dicky is to his family, so naturally she is trying to get Mickey to distance himself from this drug addicted tornado. Mickey has always been loyal to his brother because in his own many times messed up way his brother has always been loyal to him. Watching these dysfunctional relationships play out is really great, it is at times heart warming, at times heart breaking, and at times hilarious. Wahlberg, Bale, and Adams are all as good as I have ever seen them.
All that alone would be enough to make The Fighter a really great movie. There is more though. Mickey's family outside of Dicky may be even more messed up than Dicky himself. Although we don't really get to know these his sisters extremely well, I can never shake the feeling that they just want Mickey to hit it big because for them it would be the equivalent of winning the lottery. The mother(Leo) has a little more nuance. Her focus is on Dicky returning to his glory days. I think she believes that this is the only way Dicky will ever remain clean and have some peace in his life. On paper this probably sounds like a typical nurturing mother character. She is far from that however. One of the main reasons for that is she is delusional about who Dicky was as a boxer. Dicky once got to fight Sugar Ray Leonard and for Dicky and his mother this is their entire world. They cling to that great moment in Dicky's life and try to translate that into Dicky having a great present. She sees Mickey as being Dicky's future and is more than willing to try and steam roll anyone who she thinks is getting in the way of that. This also makes for a mixture of humorous yet upsetting scenes. Another great Russell character played perfectly by Leo.
This movie has many more threads running through it. Dicky is involved in the making of an HBO documentary that he thinks is about boxing but is actually about crack addiction. Mickey and Dicky's father is present but nearly invisible which seems like the way it has always been and could be a theme unto itself. Mickey's trainer and family friend plays a prominent role. In many was this feels the least like a Russell movie of all his films. It is the only movie of his I don't consider a straight up comedy. As I write about it though I realize it is very much playing in the same realm as his other films. It is about fixing relationships, about trying to build new relationships in a healthy way, it is about trying to reconcile your past with your future. It is all about the characters and their journey. That is why I love his films and that is why I love The Fighter.
I saw this before really knowing who Russell was as a director. This movie is ridiculously in my wheel house. Its a sports film, which you have to mess up pretty badly to get me to hate. It is about broken people but still has plenty of humor and hope to offer. It is an ensemble full of great performances.It is extremely well written which for my blind eye usually goes hand in hand with the great performances. In fact as I am typing this I am realizing it is a wonder that it isn't in my top 10-25. It is in my favorite 100 and was my favorite Russell film before American Hustle came along.
The Fighter is most definitely an ensemble but the relationship between Mickey(Wahlberg) and Dicky(Bale) is at its heart. Dicky is played amazingly by Bale and is the most tragically flawed character in a film that is full of very flawed people. Watching Mickey struggle with who is brother was, is, and wants him to be is incredible. Mickey finds something to cling to pretty early in the story in Charlene(Adams). She is far removed from who Dicky is to his family, so naturally she is trying to get Mickey to distance himself from this drug addicted tornado. Mickey has always been loyal to his brother because in his own many times messed up way his brother has always been loyal to him. Watching these dysfunctional relationships play out is really great, it is at times heart warming, at times heart breaking, and at times hilarious. Wahlberg, Bale, and Adams are all as good as I have ever seen them.
All that alone would be enough to make The Fighter a really great movie. There is more though. Mickey's family outside of Dicky may be even more messed up than Dicky himself. Although we don't really get to know these his sisters extremely well, I can never shake the feeling that they just want Mickey to hit it big because for them it would be the equivalent of winning the lottery. The mother(Leo) has a little more nuance. Her focus is on Dicky returning to his glory days. I think she believes that this is the only way Dicky will ever remain clean and have some peace in his life. On paper this probably sounds like a typical nurturing mother character. She is far from that however. One of the main reasons for that is she is delusional about who Dicky was as a boxer. Dicky once got to fight Sugar Ray Leonard and for Dicky and his mother this is their entire world. They cling to that great moment in Dicky's life and try to translate that into Dicky having a great present. She sees Mickey as being Dicky's future and is more than willing to try and steam roll anyone who she thinks is getting in the way of that. This also makes for a mixture of humorous yet upsetting scenes. Another great Russell character played perfectly by Leo.
This movie has many more threads running through it. Dicky is involved in the making of an HBO documentary that he thinks is about boxing but is actually about crack addiction. Mickey and Dicky's father is present but nearly invisible which seems like the way it has always been and could be a theme unto itself. Mickey's trainer and family friend plays a prominent role. In many was this feels the least like a Russell movie of all his films. It is the only movie of his I don't consider a straight up comedy. As I write about it though I realize it is very much playing in the same realm as his other films. It is about fixing relationships, about trying to build new relationships in a healthy way, it is about trying to reconcile your past with your future. It is all about the characters and their journey. That is why I love his films and that is why I love The Fighter.