Story by Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson & Keith Dorrington
Screenplay Written by Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson & Scott Silver
Directed by David O. Russell
** ½ (two and a half stars)
The rating I have given to filmmaker David O. Russell’s “The Fighter” has considerably little to do with the actual execution of this production and almost everything to do with my reaction to it. All told, this is a film where it is difficult for me to point out actual areas that felt wrong to me as the overall quality is high, the deceptively simple story line is complex and the intentions behind the film feel pure. But, somehow, it didn’t reach me. I wasn’t resisting its cinematic pull so to speak. It just didn’t leave me with very much to hold onto as I watched. As I write this review, nearly two hours after having left the theater, the film has hardly etched a lasting impression. This particular reaction can happen to any one of us, even during the very best films. All of our personal perceptions and tastes come into play when viewing any film but when it is all said and done, either the story works or it doesn’t. And in the case of “The Fighter,” despite all of the exceedingly hard work and strength on display, it just didn’t move me.
Based upon a true story and set during the early to mid 1990s in Lowell, Massachusetts, Mark Wahlberg stars as “Irish” Micky Ward, an aging professional boxer itching for his chance at the welterweight title championship but living in the immense shadow set by his former boxer, crack head half-brother Dickie Eklund (a blisteringly shifty Christian Bale). Dickie is a local legend in the working class town of Lowell as he historically faced off with none other than Sugar Ray Leonard in 1978, a feat he never allows anyone to ever forget, even as he is consumed with narcotics and spends his days and nights fueling his habit amongst hangers on inside of a crackhouse. When not completely consumed in some sort of stupor, Dickie also barely functions as Micky’s unreliable trainer and sparring partner while their garishly flamboyant Mother, Alice Ward (Melissa Leo) serves as Micky’s manager.
After losing bouts to one dead end fighter after another and culminating in a punishing loss to a substitute fighter from an entirely different weight class, Micky’s confidence is severely damaged, forcing him into a hiatus and questioning if the life he lives inside of the boxing ring is truly meant for him. Yet, in a rowdy neighborhood bar, he meets the feisty bartender Charlotte (Amy Adams), who encourages him to try and step away from the very people who are harming his chances the most (i.e. his family) and possibly attain new sponsorship which may elevate his chances at the welterweight title. This very idea comes as a realistic possibility once Dickie is incarcerated for drug possession, an idea that infuriates Alice and her belligerent herd of ever present seven daughters who all feel that Charlotte is nothing more than an opportunistic hussy waiting to cash in on Micky’s potential success.
While Micky carves out his gradual return to the ring, he is confronted with obstacles more severe than any individual boxer, as he struggles to negotiate and maintain the alliances, allegiances and the irreplaceable love he holds for those closet to his heart.
“The Fighter,” much its leading character of Micky Ward, faces quite the uphill battle as it is stepping into the cinematic ring, which, in the past 35 years alone, already houses Sylvester Stallone’s “Rocky” series and Martin Scorsese’s untouchable “Raging Bull” (1980) as new standards for stories set within the boxing ring. In fact, “The Fighter” is actually as old fashioned a film as Tom Hooper’s “The King’s Speech.” It is a film that contains a well-worn story with well-worn clichés that Russell, his screenwriters and more than able cast work diligently to transcend.
In addition to being a boxing film and even a story about one man’s crippling addiction, “The Fighter” works mostly as a complex family drama in which each character is battling their own sense of delusions concerning their relationship to each other as well as themselves. Alice needs to believe in Dickie’s purity and ability to successfully train and mentor Micky even though his rampant irresponsibility and crack addiction stares her in the face. Most dramatically, we have Dickie’s intense delusions of grandeur as he has convinced himself that the HBO film crew, which has been following him, is documenting his boxing comeback trail when they are actually filming a documentary about crack addiction. With just those two aspects of the film’s storyline, we have the ingredients for exactly the type of film we typically do not see too often out of Hollywood these days: a film about behavior as well as that eternal Savage Cinema theme, humanity.
Ensuring the correct presentation of reality expressed through the complexities of human behavior is exhibited properly, the right actors must be present and I am pleased to say that nearly all of the performances in “The Fighter” are first rate. Amy Adams is quite the surprise as she presents a beautifully convincing level of grit, sexiness and toughness that has been previously unseen in her roles so far. Christian Bale is worlds away from his muscular status and brooding, tormented turn as Bruce Wayne as his sinewy, jittery frame is spring loaded like an uncontrollable live wire. His performance is a compelling stew of unpredictable ticks, turns and combating motivations that consistently keeps the viewer off guard and riveted to his every gesture. He is impossible to ignore or disregard in any way whenever he is on screen.
That said, I do think that for all of the attention Melissa Leo and Christian Bale are already receiving for their work, I am going to go out on the edge and state that Mark Wahlberg’s performance is the one to really watch, especially as it is the least flashy role and mostly internalized.
Although the character of Micky Ward is 31 years old, he essentially exists and functions as the youngest child of a large family and is perpetually lost in the shuffle while everyone’s focus is simultaneously riveted upon him. Everyone in his life speaks for him, makes decisions for him to a detrimental degree. Every move of Micky’s independence is depicted and executed as a baby step but those steps prove to be seismic within the inner circle of people who simply want to mold him to their own particular whims and internal desires, whether positive or negative and sometimes they straddle the fence. The juxtapositions within this framework are compelling as Alice, Dickie and Charlotte vicariously use him to realize their own respective lost or shattered dreams while also loving him fiercely. Even Micky’s fight sequences function as extensions of his personality as he withstands beating after beating, allowing the opponent to control the fight, until he finally lashes out, ensuring victory.
The way Wahlberg shoulders the love, disappointment, anger, sad resignation an hopefully resolution to all of his relationships is excellent work and like the most gracious of actors, he never calls attention to himself and almost allows himself to fade into the background, perhaps as much as the real Micky Ward felt he had to do. Wahlberg is an actor I have enjoyed but understand that he needs to be paired with certain directors to get the very best out of him. With David O. Russell, this is his third collaboration after the Kubrickian Iraq war satire “Three Kings” (1999) and the messy metaphysical/philosophical comedy “I Heart Huckabees” (2004) and this cinematic relationship shows no signs of slowing down.
Through Wahlberg’s performance, “The Fighter” could almost be a companion piece to Darren Aronofsky’s excellent “The Wrestler” (2009) which delved so sorrowfully into the interior life of its titular character. Yet “The Fighter” never quite goes that distance perhaps because Micky is just beginning to learn about himself, therefore the audience doesn’t really know much about him either. I don’t think this is a fault overall but it may become an obstacle for some viewers wishing to make a greater emotional connection.
I think that was the major problem of this film as a whole for me. I didn’t have an emotional connection to what I was watching and when it was over, I just shrugged my shoulders and walked out of the theater. David O. Russell is a highly idiosyncratic filmmaker who appears from time to time with a new project that certain raises hopes for me and am happy to see on my cinematic radar. Russell made an audacious splash with his incest comedy “Spanking The Monkey” (1994), Russell followed with his sexually driven cross country adoption comedy, “Flirting With Disaster” (1996) starring Ben Stiller, Tea Leoni and Patricia Arquette. With the aforementioned “Three Kings” and “I Heart Huckabees,” Russell continued to carve out a niche as one of our most unique cinematic voices, placing himself in league with filmmakers like Spike Jonze, Wes Anderson, Michael Gondry and Charlie Kaufman. I think what may have surprised me most with “The Fighter,” is that it is easily Russell’s most pedestrian film to date. There never seems to be anything at risk creatively and it never seems to have any teeth either. “The Fighter” just kind of sits there on the screen, waiting to be admired for its pedigree rather than storytelling.
Additionally, I did have slight problems with the otherwise wonderful Melissa Leo and her daughters. Alice Ward and the squadron of Micky’s seven sisters veers dangerously close to caricatures instead of functioning as characters and every time that troop tromped onto the screen, I was easily reminded of Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Punch-Drunk Love” (2002) which featured a surreal take on a man-child overrun by seven sisters. By contrast, the world of “The Fighter” is a realistically gritty one and they often felt false to me. A similar complaint was hurled by detractors of Clint Eastwood’s wonderful “Million Dollar Baby” (2004) in regards to the opportunistic family of Hilary Swank and through “The Fighter,” I could understand that criticism better as that was how I felt here. Melissa Leo is a powerhouse of an actress known for her gravity and subtlety (especially on the eternally brilliant television series "Homicide: Life On the Street") and while her performance in "The Fighter" often slides to the Shakespearian, I wished it had remained there consistently.
Dear readers, “The Fighter” is by no means a bad film, or even a disappointing one. I would not discourage any of you from seeing this film and in fact, many of you may even love it. It is a film of quality performed in an adult fashion with complex themes at the ready. But, I guess as I watched, I felt it was just going through the motions, dancing around the ring, never quite making that knockout punch.
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