Australian Penthouse

The Fighter

Director: David O. Russell
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo, Jack McGee
Roadshow Films

IN some ways, Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale have experienced similar entries into Hollywood. With Bale’s impressive child actor performance in Empire of the Sun aside, both actors appeared on critical and audience radars with breakthrough performances ‘early’ (by Hollywood standards) in their adult careers: Boogie Nights for Wahlberg, and American Psycho for Bale.

I have had and lost faith in both actors at one point or another. With Wahlberg, for every inspiring Boogie Nights performance, there’s a Planet of the Apes to offset it; for an impressive return to form in The Departed, there’s a Max Payne. In terms of Bale, I had put him on a rather lofty pedestal until his mistreatment of John Connor in the über disappointing Terminator: Salvation that left a bitter taste in my mouth.

But that didn’t prevent The Fighter from being an attractive prospect.

From the get-go, the audience is introduced to sibling protagonists: Dickie Eklund (Bale) loves to be the centre of attention, running off at the mouth to a HBO documentary crew about his half-brother Micky’s (Wahlberg) chances in the ring as a comeback fighter, with the more sedate Micky graciously silent throughout his brother’s manic ramblings.

A HBO documentary is being made about Dickie, who tells everyone who will listen that it’s about his return to the ring, even though he’s  long in the tooth and clearly in the thrall of a drug habit. But Dickie’s a local hero with bragging rights because he made Sugar Ray Leonard eat canvas during a long-past boxing match.  Dickie is Micky “Irish” Ward’s trainer, while their hard-as-nails mother, Alice (Leo), has the role of manager. The blended family is extremely close—with an entourage of half-sisters who act as a bitchy cheer squad—but none of them, except for Micky’s father (McGee), has Ward’s best interests in mind.

Dickie is a crack addict—who believes that he hides his addiction effectively from his family—which makes him unreliable as a trainer and continually disappointing to his younger brother. Alice is in denial about Dickie’s addiction, and is more openly loving of her failed first-born than of Micky; she also picks Micky’s boxing opponents based on what’s best for the family (read: money).

Micky is low on confidence, which is no surprise as he’s on a losing streak in the ring. After being coerced by his family into an ill-fated fight with a boxer 20 pounds over his weight, Micky knows it’s time for a change. Charlene (Adams), the ballsy waitress at Micky’s local, shows up on his doorstep, demanding an explanation for why he blew off their planned date. Charlene’s in-your-face attitude is not dissimilar to Micky’s mother, with the biggest difference being that she is actually looking out for him.

With the support of Charlene, Micky finds the confidence to stand up to his family and break out on his own, taking another shot at his boxing dreams that he has the talent for.

This layered and believable narrative is based on a true story, making it all the more engaging. Director David O. Russell has proven himself capable of drawing a memorable performance in the past from Mark Wahlberg (Three Kings springs to mind), and The Fighter proves that “Marky Mark” and David O. Russell create a dynamic chemistry together. Wahlberg portrays the flawed character, Micky, in a grounded way; finding a poignant middle ground between his intense love for his family and the guilt he feels at wanting to break away from their ultimately negative influence.

Christian Bale is the real winner of the piece, though, with his fantastic portrayal of Dickie Eklund. Bale has shown in the past that he has no qualms in taking great strides to step into character, and this is no exception. His physique has faded from Batman buff to Trevor Reznik (The Machinist) slight, creating a stunning and realistic appearance for the once-great welterweight boxer-turned-crack addict.

Bale absolutely owns every scene he’s in, bouncing between charismatic goofball, crack addict, loving son/brother and a man in dire need of redemption—performed in such an expert arc that you should expect to see his name shortlisted at this year’s Oscars.

The matriarch of the family, Alice, may not get as much screen time as Wahlberg or Bale’s characters, but Melissa Leo is up to the task of going toe-to-toe with Bale’s knockout performance. At times you’ll hate her, at others you’ll respect her, but throughout the story it’s clear that she’s the glue that, for better or worse, holds this blue-collar Boston-based family together.

Russell made immersive decisions when it comes to portraying the engaging story. The film jumps between documentary-style cinematography, pay-per-view-type shots of the bigger boxing matches and the occasional first-person perspective that all somehow seamlessly melds together into a cohesive narrative tool, instead of a distracting attempt at being technical for the sake of it.

The boxing matches are hard hitting and often brutal, adding some fantastic ferocity to what would otherwise still be an engaging family drama. If you’re a fan of underdog sports films and want to see a diverse range of actors all bringing their A-game to a satisfyingly layered drama, do yourself a favour and watch The Fighter; it’s really that good.

THE FIGHTER is in cinemas now

Review: Nathan Lawrence