Review: THE FIGHTER - When Is A Cliché Not A Cliché...?

rating: 3.5

When is a cliché not a cliché? When the cast of The Fighter delivers it, apparently. The story of boxing half-brothers Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale) is pretty much your bog-standard sporting biopic. Micky has been living in the shadow of larger-than-life big bro Dicky since he knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard in an epic fight years ago. Now his family, led by domineering mother Alice (Melissa Leo), are managing Micky as he tries to shake off his label as a 'stepping stone' for better boxers. But with Dicky shirking his sparring duties in favour of regular visits to a seedy crack den in his hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts, Micky is struggling to make the grade. Enter feisty barmaid Charlene (Amy Adams). After Micky deploys his coy charms on her, the pair begins a whirlwind romance that will unsettle Micky's relationship with his overbearing family and begin to re-focus him on his boxing. Every beat of this film is utterly conventional. Every character serves his or her emotional and dramatic function exactly as required, and every development is visible way in advance. The problem, the failures, the change, the hope, the improvement, and the success come in right on time; so much so that I'm considering writing to all the major airlines and suggesting director David O. Russell as a candidate for CEO. But despite refusing to step off of it's well-worn path, 'The Fighter' is an effective feel-good sports movie that is garnering a huge amount of Oscar buzz. The reason? Every actor puts their all into this film, and the combined energy they generate is mind-blowing. Bale is the most visible contribution to the cause, his wild-eyed degeneration into an emaciated crack addict pushes the brink of plausibility with its flailing, twitchy excesses, yet fully captures the charisma that made Eklund a legend in his community even as he lost control of his life. Meanwhile Adams and Leo lock horns to produce a tension that defies the conventional scripting they use are their launching point. Both women display such a dogged determination that they almost stand outside of events, emanating from the screen like a force of nature pressing upon Micky and all who share his battle. At the centre of it all is Mark Wahlberg, whose quiet performance as Micky Ward gives us someone to identify with, and so someone to pull us into the centre of this actor-driven pressure cooker. Through his gentle understanding, and his refusal to attack his loved ones head on, we are encouraged to accept the extreme personalities that orbit his world; and so the powerful and enigmatic performances of Wahlberg's co-stars are freed to pursue their excesses. His restraint might not have won him acclaim at the awards, but make no mistake, it has made this film what it is. That is not to detract from the work of director David O. Russell, who pushes some important buttons to make this film hit home as hard as it does. A crucial contribution comes in the superbly shot boxing scenes: Russell choreographs and shoots these bouts with a vivid and intense brutality that punctuates and intensifies the personal struggles that surround and affect Micky's boxing career. Every punch, every impact, and every face in the crowd speaks volumes not just about this underdog's journey to success, but also about the multitude of influences competing for control of his life. The interweaving of these stories, however conventional and predictable they may be, makes for a potent story in which a collection of stars proudly exhibits their talents. It is not merely that some top grade performances are pulling the wool over the eyes of critics, making them blind to how boring and uninspired this film is. Rather, it is that The Fighter takes the genre conventions and manipulates them to play to the strengths of this production - the larger than life performances, the fizzing fight scenes, the chaotic collection of characters tugging Micky one way and another. These are all brought to life with gusto. As feel-good sports movies go, this isn't a game changer but it is a fantastic example of the genre at its most potent. The Fighter is released in the U.K. today.