The Fighter Review

Rating: 3/5


The thing about boxing movies is that most of them are the same. They're about a funny accented middle class shlub who finally realizes their potential but has to deal with their personal and/or family problems. And there's always a big title fight coming up. Some movies, like Rocky and Raging Bull, are classics, partly because they did it first. Others like Cinderella Man and this movie don't reach the heights of the others, not just because they came later.

Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) is a quiet, shy, and introverted young toughie from Lowell, Massachusetts. His motormouth brother Dickie (Christian Bale) used to be somewhat of a local hero, and even went up against the then famous "Sugar Ray" Leonard. However, Dickie got addicted to crack, and decided to start shoving his dreams on little Micky. Along with a crazy mom and sisters, Micky is the one who sits in the corner while everyone says "right, Micky?" When Charlene, an inspirational bartender, enters Micky's life, he decides that he needs to do well in the ring, with or without Dickie.

Like most movie I find bland, The Fighter is based on a true story. I say bland because with a simple google search can tell you everything you need to know about the story. So, anyone with internet access can find out the end. But for a movie like this, you don't need to know the end, because it's a boxing movie! Anyway, overall, The Fighter is just ok. Mark Wahlberg is, well, Mark Wahlberg, and as usual is flat. Christian Bale on the other hand performs one of his best performances ever as Dickie. He really steals the show. The rest of the cast is fine and gets their job done.

The writing and the directing is where the problem really lies. It's boring, and we don't get invested in Micky at all. I literally found myself wanting to see more of the supporting cast than the main character. There's just no emotion put into anything. The movie wants to be Rocky too badly, and it's shot like a TV movie so it doesn't succeed very well.

From all this critique, you might wonder why I gave The Fighter 3 stars. To this I say: because it's entertaining and harmless. While I wouldn't want to see the movie again, I enjoyed it. Your call.