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Warrior (2011)
Sports drama and family dysfunction drama blend to spectacular effect in 2011's Warrior, an edgy and often ugly tale of a tattered family attempting to reconnect that will keep the viewer riveted the screen, despite the film's slight overlength.
Paddy Conlon is a former boxing coach who destroyed his family and career thanks to alcoholism and as the film opens, we learn that Paddy is approaching 1000 days sober, but this does not repair the damage his drinking did to his relationship with his two sons. Younger son Tommy Conlon is a war hero who, despite doing his share of heavy drinking, has decided to resume his career in Mixed Martial Arts and has decided to put the past in the past and asks Paddy to train him. Tommy's older brother, Brendon is also a mixed martial artist but because of family obligations, gave up the sport full time to become a teacher, but now, on the verge of losing everything, decides to re-enter the ring as well, with no help from his father. The lives of Paddy and his two sons converge upon a Mixed Martial Arts tournament in Atlantic City, where the winning purse is $5,000,000.
Director and co-screenwriter Gavin O'Connor (The Accountant) has crafted a story that is really multiple stories that eventually intersect and tangle into one often moving and emotionally manipulative story. We have a man trying to repair the damage of his alcoholism to little or no avail. We have a frightened former soldier trying to escape his overseas mistake through a new career and his inflexibility regarding the mistakes of his father and his older brother, who he feels deserted him at a difficult turning point in his life. We also have Brendon, a man who gave up his passion for the realities of survival, but finds himself in an untenable position when his life begins to implode and a return to Mixed Martial Arts seem to be the only viable option.
O'Connor effectively chooses to let his camera tell a lot more of the story than the minimal backstory does. Love the shot of Brendon returning to his house after rejecting his father and the camera is from Brendon's view while the image of Paddy still standing outside by his car gets smaller and smaller. Another thing that O'Connor does to maximum effect, like Ron Howard did in Apollo 13, is that he tries to tell this intimate family story through everyone involved, even on the periphery. The glance at Brendon's former students who followed his athletic career all the way to Atlantic City could have easily been omitted, but O'Connor's inclusion of the story gave it a layer we really don't see coming. And maybe I'm just getting old, but I also never saw Paddy and Brendon facing each other as the final opponents the tournament coming which I won't say anything else about here.
O'Connor gets first rate assistance from his film editing team, who make the fight sequences crackle. He also works wonders with a terrific cast: Frank Grillo underplays nicely as Brendon's trainer, whose enthusiasm about the project changes as it progresses, Joel Edgerton brings real heart to the role of Brendon Conlon, making you feel everything he feels and Nick Nolte's powerhouse Paddy Conlon earned him his third Oscar nomination, this time for Best Supporting Actor. Above all though is Tom Hardy, another actor I am adding to my list of actors being incapable of giving a bad performance, who is nothing short of electrifying as Tommy Conlon, a role he completely disappears inside of with seemingly little effort and bringing a truly tortured movie character to frightening fruition. A commanding motion picture experience that will simultaneously entertain and haunt.
Sports drama and family dysfunction drama blend to spectacular effect in 2011's Warrior, an edgy and often ugly tale of a tattered family attempting to reconnect that will keep the viewer riveted the screen, despite the film's slight overlength.
Paddy Conlon is a former boxing coach who destroyed his family and career thanks to alcoholism and as the film opens, we learn that Paddy is approaching 1000 days sober, but this does not repair the damage his drinking did to his relationship with his two sons. Younger son Tommy Conlon is a war hero who, despite doing his share of heavy drinking, has decided to resume his career in Mixed Martial Arts and has decided to put the past in the past and asks Paddy to train him. Tommy's older brother, Brendon is also a mixed martial artist but because of family obligations, gave up the sport full time to become a teacher, but now, on the verge of losing everything, decides to re-enter the ring as well, with no help from his father. The lives of Paddy and his two sons converge upon a Mixed Martial Arts tournament in Atlantic City, where the winning purse is $5,000,000.
Director and co-screenwriter Gavin O'Connor (The Accountant) has crafted a story that is really multiple stories that eventually intersect and tangle into one often moving and emotionally manipulative story. We have a man trying to repair the damage of his alcoholism to little or no avail. We have a frightened former soldier trying to escape his overseas mistake through a new career and his inflexibility regarding the mistakes of his father and his older brother, who he feels deserted him at a difficult turning point in his life. We also have Brendon, a man who gave up his passion for the realities of survival, but finds himself in an untenable position when his life begins to implode and a return to Mixed Martial Arts seem to be the only viable option.
O'Connor effectively chooses to let his camera tell a lot more of the story than the minimal backstory does. Love the shot of Brendon returning to his house after rejecting his father and the camera is from Brendon's view while the image of Paddy still standing outside by his car gets smaller and smaller. Another thing that O'Connor does to maximum effect, like Ron Howard did in Apollo 13, is that he tries to tell this intimate family story through everyone involved, even on the periphery. The glance at Brendon's former students who followed his athletic career all the way to Atlantic City could have easily been omitted, but O'Connor's inclusion of the story gave it a layer we really don't see coming. And maybe I'm just getting old, but I also never saw Paddy and Brendon facing each other as the final opponents the tournament coming which I won't say anything else about here.
O'Connor gets first rate assistance from his film editing team, who make the fight sequences crackle. He also works wonders with a terrific cast: Frank Grillo underplays nicely as Brendon's trainer, whose enthusiasm about the project changes as it progresses, Joel Edgerton brings real heart to the role of Brendon Conlon, making you feel everything he feels and Nick Nolte's powerhouse Paddy Conlon earned him his third Oscar nomination, this time for Best Supporting Actor. Above all though is Tom Hardy, another actor I am adding to my list of actors being incapable of giving a bad performance, who is nothing short of electrifying as Tommy Conlon, a role he completely disappears inside of with seemingly little effort and bringing a truly tortured movie character to frightening fruition. A commanding motion picture experience that will simultaneously entertain and haunt.