The Fighter

With a lot of award nominations, 'The Fighter' has received a lot of hype. The few criticisms that i've heard tend to be directed at how predictable the story is, this tends to be the case when a film is based on a true story so don't expect twists and turns along the way. That said, the measure of a good film for me is if it is rewatchable and if you only enjoy a film because of its twists and turns the likelihood is that you won't enjoy it anywhere near as much the second time round. I would watch this film again.


For a film about boxing the first half has a noticeable lack of ringside action, most of the fighting takes place between Micky, played by Mark Whalberg, his family and his friends. His family are all insane but wonderfully engaging and  I feel as if I could listen to them talk and argue all day.The acting and particularly the accents are brilliant, all the actors nail that wonderful north eastern American accent and by the end of the film I find myself dropping my R's and elongating my A's. 

Christian Bale is unrecognisably thin but his performance as Dicky, a crack addict brother and ex boxer, is massive and when he's on screen he steals the show. Once his younger brother Micky's hero he is now dragging Micky down with him whilst repeatedly and pathetically reliving his one great fight from the past.


Mark Whalberg, who gives a much more understated performance really shows his vulnerability and sensitivity. He is physically huge and looks like a boxer. Amy Adams also gives a fantastic performance as Charlene, Micky's girlfriend who is smart mouthed and particularly enjoyable to watch when interacting with Micky's family.


The fight scenes are intense, they mix sky sports like camera footage with cinematic shots leading to a thrilling experience. The penultimate fight left me grinning ear to ear and wanting a replay, but its the final fight which grips you the most, you know the ending but you still end up doubting that you know it.

As soon as a film about boxing comes out it instantly gets compared to Rocky. This film does share certain elements with the Rocky franchise but its so much more. You can actually see Micky improving after each fight and there is a clear lack of typical cheesy American sport film 'you can do it!' kind of speeches. It was produced by Darren Aronofsky, who was originally going to direct and it is obvious that The Wrestler has had an impact on this film both cinematically and conceptually. I actually prefer this film to both 'The Wrestler' and 'Rocky,' it essentially takes my favourite aspects of both films and turns them into a film which is both well made and exciting.