Movie Review: The Fighter

OK, so I know I'm late to the party on this one. But at this point, I'm in my frantic watch-all-the-nominees-before-Oscar-night mode, so bear with me. After "The Fighter", all I have to watch is "Winter's Bone", so expect that review soon.

To be honest, "The Fighter" wasn't at the top of my list of movies to watch, hence just getting around to it now. The good news is, this movie is nowhere near as cliche as the trailer might suggest. In fact, all the corniest lines are proudly delivered in the trailer by a perennially earnest Mark Wahlberg: "I'm the one who's fighting; not you, not you, and not you!"

The plot is oddly intricate (at least character-wise), despite being very formulaic. Basically, it revolves around boxer Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), a nice, soft-spoken Bostonian who is notorious for being a "stepping stone"- the decent boxer who everyone else beats up on to advance to the next level. His brother Dicky (Christian Bale) is his crack-addicted trainer, who used to be a renowned boxer himself. Their mother Alice (Melissa Leo) acts as Micky's manager, and tries desperately to maintain control over their dysfunctional family. Finally, throw into the mix Micky's new love interest, the bartender Charlene (Amy Adams), who sees Micky's family as what's holding him back from achieving success. And let's face it- when you put Micky's entire family (he has SEVEN sisters!) in close quarters, as they often do, it's hard not to agree with her.

The performances are very much what propel "The Fighter", and for the most part, they hit it out of the park. Mark Wahlberg is an obvious casting choice (channeling his inner "Invincible"), but does well in his role all the same. It's hard not to like Micky Ward. Amy Adams is solid as well, despite oddly always seeming on the verge of tears. Christian Bale is the only real standout performance for me, in the best role I've ever seen him in. You truly understand why Micky feels like he can't win with Dicky around, but can't win without him either. Bale deserves every accolade that he's getting. The only performance I didn't care too much for was Melissa Leo. She was certainly good, but dare I say a bit too hammy? In fact, most of the scenes with the entire family veer a bit too close to Jerry Springer territory.

In the end, "The Fighter" is exactly what you might expect from an underdog boxing story, which is not necessarily a criticism (especially if you like Rocky, Raging Bull, etc.). It certainly doesn't break any new ground, but it's not like it's trying to. Unfortunately, if it weren't for the jaw-droppingly good performance from Christian Bale, I have a hard time believing that it would be getting anywhere near the kind of recognition that it's getting. Also, fair warning: if you see this movie, you're likely to get "Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake stuck in your head.