The Fighter: Review By Paolo Sardinas

Most sports films are just simple re-telling of stories that have already been previously told; usually more than once. They feature an aspiring athlete who wants to win it all. Overcoming obstacles such as drug-abuse, age, and family each film just simply tells the same story but instead focuses on a different aspect of abuse. "The Fighter", the latest from David O' Russell, focuses on all three of those things at the same time while also featuring some great performances and some re-invigorating style.

Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg) is an up and coming boxer who wants it all. He works his way up to the welterweight championship with the help of the girl he loves, played by Amy Adams, who helps him ignore the recurring negativity he receives from his domineering mother, six sisters, and his ex-boxer half brother Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale) who has succ*mbed to his addiction of crack cocaine. The film progresses a rather quick pace despite throwing multiple characters and situations at your face. Rather than quickly moving through the tough stuff and featuring long sequences of boxing, O' Russell seems to have found a way to balance the two which constantly keeps the film moving.

Despite Wahlberg playing the film's main protagonist, the real star happens to be Bale who steals the spotlight with his harrowing performance. He has gained much attention for his loss of sixty-three pounds to play the part. Needless to say, he turns in a terrific performance, one which just recently won him the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. Since Bale is about as method as they come you never get the sense that he's playing a crack addict but rather a character who is a genuinely complex and emotional person who just so happens to be addicted to crack.

Wahlberg does what he does best; playing the brooding hero that everyone loves. While this is not his best performance it is his best performance in some time and quite possibly his best since his Academy Award nominated turn in Scorsese's "The Departed." What is quite outstanding are the female performances that are featured throughout are riveting, the best being Melissa Leo playing the mother. Amy Adams' continues to deliver outstanding performances and continues to prove why she is one of the best actresses around.

Now despite the Oscar caliber performances, "The Fighter" is riddled with your typical sports film clichés. O' Russell's new stylistic addition to the genre is good enough to save the film from the terribly predictable plot.

What I found to be interesting from the film was the way that the filmmakers were able to focus the story not just on the main character but on the whole surrounding community. The sisters, members of the neighborhood, and the crack fiends living in the crack house are all given their own focus throughout the film and are treated as equally important parts all throughout the film's run. Is "The Fighter" re-inventive of the boxing sub genre of sports films? No. But it does change up some things here and there to give the story a different perspective a long with some fine performances.