← Back to Reviews
in
Year Of Release
Director/s
Producer/s
Writer/s
Cast
Synopsis:
Two Brothers Brendan and Tommy, were raised by a sick Mother, and an alcoholic, abusive Father.
After their Mother died, Tommy joined the Marines and bottled up years of rage and torturously painful memories… and Brendan became a Physics Teacher and raised a family of his own, vowing never to allow his own family to come to ruin in the way his own Father allowed years ago.
Both Boys have another former life though… their Father also trained them to wrestle, box and fight.
He trained them so well in fact, that both of them could have been contenders…
… and a big tournament is around the corner… with Brendan’s motives toward saving his family from eviction and bankruptcy, and Tommy’s motives are, well, Tommy’s motives, and Tommy’s recent past, are yet to be revealed.
Review:
What… a… movie…
This is by far one of the strongest films of the 2010s… even one of the strongest since the Millennium. Thinking about it… of the past 20 years.
It’s odd this, but a movie based on what it is, fighting and MMA, shouldn’t be this good.
The filmmakers have delicately balanced a story and a genuinely touching and realistic backdrop into what could have been a generic Octagon Battler between two Brothers, and then twisted the whole thing into an inspirational, brutal, touching, even heart-wrenching journey of two (sometimes three) men with an incredibly troubled past, all trying to either forget or make amends for what they have all been through over the years.
I said brutal a moment ago. It’s not just the fighting side of things, and we do see some incredible fight scenes, but there’s a huge chunk of brutality that comes from the heartfelt and, well, heavy hitting story and emotions seen throughout.
It’s a very well crafted story containing everything from drama to action that never fails to impress with every turn it takes.
The acting is also bang on.
I’ll start with Tom Hardy… Hardy isn’t the main role here… he’s more a joint lead that kinda takes a slight backseat to Edgerton. Hardy though… wow.
He goes from a genuinely damaged individual, constantly brooding, to a snarling lump of muscle with bloodshot eyes and foam spitting from his mouth from scene to scene.
Hardy holds the quieter scenes fantastically with his natural ability to portray internal pain… and when the going gets rough in the fights, he then smashes audience expectations and becomes a genuinely scary psychopath, but a psychopath with a purpose.
Joel Edgerton is our main guy as Brendan. Another wow.
I have never seen an actor go from Mr Nice Guy to a genuinely thinking and mentally deep fighter as intensely as Edgerton. This isn’t just Joel’s best role to date, it’s one of the most touching and emotionally involved roles I’ve ever seen from him.
Edgerton has proven he has the chops to be a leading man with this film, and his acting while in the Octagon, covered in blood and bruises, actually had me in tears more than once.
The rest of the cast are just really backup roles. Kevin Dunn is brilliant though, especially when he’s leaping around his living room while watching the fights on TV.
However… Nolte… massively charismatic. It’s not often I’ve seen Nolte actually act. He’s normally the tough grizzly guy.
Here though, Nolte also had me in tears. He is immensely powerful in his supporting role of the ex-alcoholic Born-Again-Christian, who is trying his best to make up with his damaged Sons.
Nolte rocks this movie. He’s perfect.
It’s the third act that the fight side of things really comes together. There are a few skirmishes with Edgerton in the second act though too.
The third act of this movie had my heart pounding and my hands shaking from start to end.
At one point I actually shouted “yes!” when certain things happen in the Octagon.
The choreography of this movie is held in reality so tightly, and the awesome, awesome writing and acting leading up to it, makes the finale/s of this genuine story incredibly exciting.
The other good thing with the third act, is once it starts, it doesn’t ever let up or go quiet half way through.
There’s also a brilliantly underplayed score and soundtrack throughout that gets the heart going when certain incidents are occurring, or are about to occur.
Review #243, Movie #314
Year Of Release
2011
Director/s
Gavin O’Connor
Producer/s
Gavin O’Connor, Greg O’Connor
Writer/s
Gavin O’Connor, Anthony Tambakis, Cliff Dorfman
Music
Mark Isham
Cast
Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy, Jennifer Morrison, Kevin Dunn, Franks Grillo, Erik Apple, Kurt Angle
With Nick Nolte
Two Brothers Brendan and Tommy, were raised by a sick Mother, and an alcoholic, abusive Father.
After their Mother died, Tommy joined the Marines and bottled up years of rage and torturously painful memories… and Brendan became a Physics Teacher and raised a family of his own, vowing never to allow his own family to come to ruin in the way his own Father allowed years ago.
Both Boys have another former life though… their Father also trained them to wrestle, box and fight.
He trained them so well in fact, that both of them could have been contenders…
… and a big tournament is around the corner… with Brendan’s motives toward saving his family from eviction and bankruptcy, and Tommy’s motives are, well, Tommy’s motives, and Tommy’s recent past, are yet to be revealed.
Review:
What… a… movie…
This is by far one of the strongest films of the 2010s… even one of the strongest since the Millennium. Thinking about it… of the past 20 years.
It’s odd this, but a movie based on what it is, fighting and MMA, shouldn’t be this good.
The filmmakers have delicately balanced a story and a genuinely touching and realistic backdrop into what could have been a generic Octagon Battler between two Brothers, and then twisted the whole thing into an inspirational, brutal, touching, even heart-wrenching journey of two (sometimes three) men with an incredibly troubled past, all trying to either forget or make amends for what they have all been through over the years.
I said brutal a moment ago. It’s not just the fighting side of things, and we do see some incredible fight scenes, but there’s a huge chunk of brutality that comes from the heartfelt and, well, heavy hitting story and emotions seen throughout.
It’s a very well crafted story containing everything from drama to action that never fails to impress with every turn it takes.
The acting is also bang on.
I’ll start with Tom Hardy… Hardy isn’t the main role here… he’s more a joint lead that kinda takes a slight backseat to Edgerton. Hardy though… wow.
He goes from a genuinely damaged individual, constantly brooding, to a snarling lump of muscle with bloodshot eyes and foam spitting from his mouth from scene to scene.
Hardy holds the quieter scenes fantastically with his natural ability to portray internal pain… and when the going gets rough in the fights, he then smashes audience expectations and becomes a genuinely scary psychopath, but a psychopath with a purpose.
Joel Edgerton is our main guy as Brendan. Another wow.
I have never seen an actor go from Mr Nice Guy to a genuinely thinking and mentally deep fighter as intensely as Edgerton. This isn’t just Joel’s best role to date, it’s one of the most touching and emotionally involved roles I’ve ever seen from him.
Edgerton has proven he has the chops to be a leading man with this film, and his acting while in the Octagon, covered in blood and bruises, actually had me in tears more than once.
The rest of the cast are just really backup roles. Kevin Dunn is brilliant though, especially when he’s leaping around his living room while watching the fights on TV.
However… Nolte… massively charismatic. It’s not often I’ve seen Nolte actually act. He’s normally the tough grizzly guy.
Here though, Nolte also had me in tears. He is immensely powerful in his supporting role of the ex-alcoholic Born-Again-Christian, who is trying his best to make up with his damaged Sons.
Nolte rocks this movie. He’s perfect.
It’s the third act that the fight side of things really comes together. There are a few skirmishes with Edgerton in the second act though too.
The third act of this movie had my heart pounding and my hands shaking from start to end.
At one point I actually shouted “yes!” when certain things happen in the Octagon.
The choreography of this movie is held in reality so tightly, and the awesome, awesome writing and acting leading up to it, makes the finale/s of this genuine story incredibly exciting.
The other good thing with the third act, is once it starts, it doesn’t ever let up or go quiet half way through.
There’s also a brilliantly underplayed score and soundtrack throughout that gets the heart going when certain incidents are occurring, or are about to occur.
All in all, I cried, I screamed, I felt.
This movie, being based on what it is, is an absolute gem. Fine acting, and I really mean fine, great story, realistic backdrop and character research from the writers.
This film is inspirational.
My Rating: The magical 101%
