The Fighter: A Review

While I've done a couple of sports-related book reviews on this blog, I've yet to write about any sports movies.  I don't go see a lot of films, especially not in the theater (I think the last one I saw was Megamind sometime shortly after Thanksgiving), but I'm really glad I went to see The Fighter last night.  The Fighter was much more than the typical formulaic recipe for a mediocre-yet-entertaining sports movie (Underdog + Training Montage + Unexpected Improvement = Title Shot; think Rocky Balboa, which I admittedly really liked).  In addition, the movie is a strong social commentary about the difficulties and complexities of "making it" as a professional boxer in the 1990s, highlighting conflicts between fighters, family, managers and trainers that marred the sport then and continue to affect it today.

I'm not here to talk about the technical aspects of the film (there are professional movie reviewers for that), but it's worth nothing that Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale and Amy Adams were all, in my opinion, excellent in their roles.  Walhberg (Micky Ward) plays a convincing down-on-his-luck welterweight wavering between retirement and fighting to support his family, while Bale steals numerous scenes with his portrayal of Ward's brother, a former fighter and current Ward trainer who battles a crack addition and legal troubles throughout the film.  In addition to the solid acting, the fight scenes are realistic and intense, and much of the film is shot in a 1990s era "ESPN-esque style" that makes the movie extremely realistic.

Anyone can read about Ward's story; the movie is worth seeing because of the way it depicts the numerous conflicts between Ward and his brother, his girlfriend (Adams), his dysfunctional family, his management / promoters and even media outlets such as ESPN.  While big-time fighters such as Sugar Ray Leonard had conpetent management to handle scheduling, payment and media coverage, allowing them to focus solely on training full time, smaller-scale (yet still competitive) fighters such as Ward were (and probably still are) forced to rely on underprepared and sometimes-selfish family members and friends to handle issues outside of the ring.  While The Fighter is a boxing movie, it's the social and interpersonal aspects of the film that separate it from the pack and have many (including Sports Illustrated) calling it the best sports movie of the decade.

Sports Illustrated called The Fighter the sports movie of the decade in its December 20 issue.

I don't consider myself a huge boxing fan, and I haven't watched a live fight in a few years (the last one I can remember making a point to see was De La Hoya versus Mayweather in 2007).  That being said, I found The Figher to be one of the best sports movies I can remember seeing.  The characters are so believable (they are based on real people, after all), and the story is so complex and improbable, that it's hard not to take something significant away from this movie.  For me, it highlighted the difficulties of living up to expectations - your family's, you town's, and your own - and focusing on your craft when everything else is crumbling around you.  I would highly recommend seeing The Fighter prior to the Academy Awards, as I won't be shocked if Micky Ward adds another trophy or two to his case.