The Fighter (2010)

Directed by David O. Russell, in his third collaboration with Mark Wahlberg since 1999’s THREE KINGS and 2004’s I HEART HUCKABEES, and Executive Produced by Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Black Swan), THE FIGHTER is based on the true story of two brothers from Lowell, Massachusetts: professional boxer “Irish” Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and his troubled older half-brother Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale). The Film also stars Amy Adams (Enchanted) as Micky’s bar tending girlfriend Charlene Fleming, Melissa Leo (TV’s Homicide: Life on the Streets) as Micky and Dicky’s mother Alice Eklund, Jack McGee (TV’s Rescue Me) as Micky and Dicky’s father George Ward, and real life Lowell, Mass. Police Sgt. and Ward’s trainer Mickey O’Keefe as himself. On one of the Televison spots I’ve seen, Richard Corliss of TIME Magazine said “It’s ROCKY plus THE BLIND SIDE plus THE DEPARTED but it’s more satisfying than any of them”. But when I went to see this film, I just referred to it as the “ROCKY” of my generation. I enjoyed Mark Wahlberg’s performance, but I thought Christian Bale was fantastic. I would love to see these guys in another movie in the future, you’ll never know. I also thought both Adams and Leo’s performances were good. The boxing match scenes I thought were fantastic to watch because the way it was filmed it made look like the film audience was watching a real match on HBO, and it almost made want to stand up and cheer for Wahlberg. Filmed in Lowell, Massachusetts in 33 days from June 13th to July 15th, 2009, with a budget of $11 million, THE FIGHTER was released on December 17th, 2010 placing it at #4 with $18,645,663 its opening weekend. I would definitely recommend THE FIGHTER to all movie lovers to see, and it’s one of the best movies I’ve seen of 2010.