There is no more cliche-ridden style of movie than those about boxing and boxers. From John Garfield in the ’30s to Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro and Mark Wahlberg, with dozens of others through the decades, the pattern of the stories is pretty much alike.
It’s what happens out of the ring and between the bouts that distinguishes them, and “The Fighter,” which opens here today, is an excellent film, not because of Wahlberg’s bloody bouts as “Irish” Micky Ward, but because of his family, the weirdest, most dysfunctional group one can imagine. Even weirder than the Gosselins, if you can envision that. And it’s basically a true story about Ward’s life and career.
Wahlberg is extremely impressive as the welterweight from Lowell, Mass., but what makes him stand out is his underacting, almost withdrawal, as he and his loyal fiancee, Charlene (a terrific Amy Adams) stand back and watch his out-of-control family go, well, out of control. That group is led by Christian Bale as Micky’s older half-brother, Dicky Ecklund; Melissa Leo, just stunning as their mother, Alice Ward, and the seven women–her daughters–who make the Furies look like a group of Buddhist monks.
Bale totally inhabits the persona of Dicky, riddled with the twitches and paranoia of the addict, a small-time crook not bright enough to advance to the major leagues of crime,not even to the high minors. He lives in the memory of a fight when he may, or may not, have knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard, and in the advice that may or may not help his half-brother as they train together or as he works Micky’s corner. It’s a magnificent performance.
The chain-smoking, whining Leo cannot see her eldest as anything but a perfect knight, even when he is in jail or in the throes of addiction, two places were he spends the majority of his life. She’s proud of Micky and happy when he does well, but Dicky is the first-born. The king. And her daughters, like a slatternly Irish chorus, chime in on cue when Mom speaks. Adams, as a feisty bartender who falls for Micky, is another who succeeds by doing less. There’s no way she can out-yell the harridans, but by speaking softly and carrying a big punch, she gains attention.
Director David O. Russell places the action in a community that is as defeated as its residents. Down-at-the-heel shoes stumble along potholed streets. A lot of writers are involved , Scott Silver, Paul Toomay and Eric Johnson on the screenplay, Keith Dorrington, Toomay and Johnson on the story. This is often a recipe for disaster, but Russell keeps things moving rapidly and cleanly enough to bring it home under two hours, no mean feat when you consider how much goes on.
The fight action is excellent, and Wahlberg is outstanding in his depiction of a fighter who stood toe-to-toe against a variety of opponents and gave as good as he got. For three years running (2001-3), Ring Magazine chose Ward’s bouts, one with Emanuel Burton and two with Arturo Gatti, as Fights of the Year.
“The Fighter” wins by a TKO.
The Fighter opens today on multiple screens
—Joe