3.Warrior
Who says being predictable is a bad thing? I cant quite recall a film being quite as formulaic, emotionally manipulative and predictable as Warrior. Boxing is substituted for MMA; the rivalry is between estranged, feuding brothers in the ring; a reluctant wife and a determined husband and a drunk father/ trainer and estranged son outside of the ring. Tom Hardy returns from war and asks his drunken father whom abandoned him as a child to train him for a 5 million dollar winner takes al tournament. Meanwhile, his estranged brother, Olympic wrestler turned teacher Joel Edgerton needs money to keep his house and continue to pay his daughters medical bills so gets back into training for the tournament, much against his wifes wishes. Predicable with clichés aplenty? Yes! However, if youre a sucker for a good story, with fleshed out characters fully exploited for conflict and emotional impact then Warrior packs a wallop! And the film almost openly acknowledges these flaws by giving away the finale in the trailer we know the brothers meet in the final and yet the tournament is so well executed that I was on the edge of my seat for every fight scene and more importantly willing the brothers to win. The final fight between them had me in tears. Perhaps Im biased because I have a brother and the thought of having to cause him pain for the greater good was painful viewing. Equally affecting were the scenes between Hardy and Nolte.