The Fighter

Firstly, some background. Before seeing The Fighter, I'd already watched the HBO Documentary High on Crack Street: Lost Lives in Lowell, and the AOL Kids parodies of the best picture Oscar nominations, including their version of The Fighter. The former gave me a solid, real-world basis and connection to the characters in the film, and the latter a preparedness for the 'unintelligible Boston accents'.

With this experience, but no clue as to the outcome of Mickey's boxing career, I think I was probably just as receptive and prepared for the film as I could be. Knowing more about Mickey's career might have lessened the tension I felt during the film, knowing less about Dicky, Boo and the realities of Lowell and the Eklunds at that time might have lessened my sense of catharsis. (I can only speculate because obviously I experienced the film under the conditions I did. Maybe there's a thesis here somewhere about individuals' film experiences being just as much a product of their own life experiences and the environmental conditions under which they see the film? I digress. Massively.)

The Fighter is not 'just a boxing film', as I've heard almost no-one describe it, but a taught, involving and very affecting family drama. It deals with family bonds, for better or worse, the effects of fame, both fading and desired, the desperation in the struggle to fight against drug addiction, family shaping who you are. David O. Russell has done a good job, the film is well-paced an elicits a range of emotions from start to finish.

The performances are stellar across the board. Bale captures Dicky very well, and likewise with Melissa Leo and Alice. Mark Wahlberg finally gets his teeth into a worthy lead role. It seems ages since he's had an honest-to-goodness role worth his talent. I think maybe the sting of Max Payne is still tainting my memory on that one... and the preposterous notion of The Happening.

I loved the look of The Fighter too. The interviews which bookend the film, along with, most notably, the final fight of the film were all shot with '90s-era HBO cameras, which avoided the clichéd 'fight film' style and lent it a great authenticity and an immediacy in the ring. The rest of the cinematography (by Hoyte Van Hoytema, who lensed Let the Right One In in '08) was very nicely realised, and the slow-motion swing back and forth between fighters midway through the film sticks in my mind. Loved it.

All in all, The Fighter is a powerful film, thriving on family conflict, and ultimately delivers a knockout.



...sorry.