10 Best Sports Movies Of The 21st Century

Released: 2010

Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 90%

The Fighter is the true story of boxer ‘Irish’ Micky Ward and his older brother Dicky who helped train him before turning pro in the mid 1980s. After his career begins to take off, his girlfriend and father push Micky to cut ties with his mother and brother and seek out a professional trainer and manager in order to get a title shot. It sounds straightforward, but it is the relationships between characters that make this film a great watch.

Mark Wahlberg is excellent as Micky, however it’s Christian Bale’s portrayal of brother Dicky that really steals the show. It’s kind of ironic that the man who played Batman almost transformed himself into a sort of Joker-esque character for this movie. Having dropped 30 pounds to play the drug addicted Dicky, you could be forgiven for thinking Bale may have needed some form of enhancement just to stand up, never mind play the overactive older brother Dicky.

The Fighter was nominated for seven Academy Awards and six Golden Globe’s with Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Melissa Leo all receiving nominations. And all were entirely justified.