The Fighter: An American Experience

Overall Rating = 4.5 Stars of 5 Stars

Set in Lowell, Mass., The Fighter is based on the early professional career of boxer "Irish" Micky Ward who overcomes many difficulties and setbacks to become a champion fighter. The Fighter is uniquely an American story expressing the values of perseverance, redemption, comebacks, and family loyalty.

Mark Wahlberg’s gives a natural and sensitive performance as the strong, reserved boxer Micky Ward who dreams at a shot at becoming the light welterweight champion. Christian Bale’s award-worthy performance as Dickie, Micky’s gregarious, drug-addicted older brother and trainer, is phenomenal for its raw and close-to-the-bone portrayal. Amy Adams as Charlene, Micky’s girl friend, is smart and spunky. Melissa Leo’s performance as Alice, Micky’s overbearing mother, and leader of the family brood, is bitingly brilliant. The actresses who play Micky’s seven sisters and Jack McGee as Micky’s father round out this talented ensemble cast whose dramatic contributions make the family scenes play out like a family drama on reality television.

The artistic direction uses local color of the movie’s locales to spice up to the production, including the shaky handheld camera tours of blue collar neighborhoods or the atmosphere evoked by the lived-in décor of Micky’s house, Micky’s parents house, the gym, the bar, etc. The intermittent interspersion of grainy film footage added other documentary-style moments to the production.

The extended boxing scenes, many of which were highlights of the movies, were carefully crafted on strategies utilized in Ward’s original fights; but, as a boxing fan, the boxing scenes lacked the brutality and grit which is indicative of hard-fought wins. Actually, the family confrontations were more brutal and truthful than the fight scenes. Perhaps the time constraints of the film which had to accommodate depicting Micky’s general family life, his life with this girlfriend, Dickie’s battle with addiction, and the boxing and training scenes necessitated abbreviating or skimming over some of the boxing matches. Hopefully these scenes will be less abbreviation on the director’s-cut version of the DVD release.

The songs selected for the soundtrack, spanning at least five decades, reinforce the various moods of the film’s characters: the angst expressed on “Saints” performed by The Breeders; the hardships of life on “Here I Go Again” by Whitesnake; the sadness and irony of life on “I Started A Joke,” performed by the Bee Gees; comebacks on “Back in the Saddle” performed by Aerosmith; the song of triumph “How You Like Me Now?” performed by The Heavy; a tribute song to Irish pride and the real life Micky Ward entitled “The Warrior’s Code” performed by Dropkick Murphys; and my favorite track, “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking,” performed by The Rolling Stones.

At a time where movies become sanitized replicas afraid to express specific ethnic, social, and cultural experiences, The Fighter is great for precisely grounding its story in a specific time, place, and social circumstances. The well-acted story with its true-to-life depictions of a specific American family caught in everyday struggles becomes both personal and universal. As American audiences love comebacks kids and rooting for the underdog, the ingredients are correctly proportioned to make for a feel-good and moving film. For these reasons, The Fighter stands triumphant with 4.5 out of 5 stars.