The Fighter
Director: David O. Russel
Starring: Christian Bale, Mark Whalberg, Amy Adams.
In the hubbub surrounding David O. Russel's "Irish" Micky Ward biopic, I pictured a Classical Hollywood inspirational film with sweeping montages of Mark Whalberg running and soulful closeups of him, Amy Adams, and Christian Bale making up the substance of the film. What I expected was a film that relied on good performances alone to push it onto Oscar territory. What I got was an intriguing docu-drama that functions not only as an inspirational sports film but also as a family study of dysfunction within the dynamic of the Ward/Eklund clan. Russel and his crew let the camera fit into the intimate spaces in the character's lives, giving the feeling that we are where the cameras can't be in these character's lives. The "film within a film" aspect of the documentary on Dicky Eklund's crack addiction allowed the film to delve into those places. Steadicam and handheld work dominate the film, giving the actors a natural place to transform into real people living in an early 90's Lowell suburb. The best performance of the film is the Oscar worthy transformation of Christian Bale. As always, Bale was very physically prepared, having lost a lot of weight since we last saw him in Public Enemies, and he looks almost as repulsive as he did in The Machinist, a role which he lost 60 pounds for. Bale has the accent, the hubris and the tragedy that define the contradictory figure of Dicky Eklund. Adams is impressive as well, stepping out of her type and stepping into the role of a smoking hot woman who won't give up on the people that she loves and doesn't take no for an answer. Whalberg deserves much credit as well, this was his project, and his genuine desire to to the story was certainly reflected in his performance. While The Fighter runs a little predictable, the dynamic of the family and the effect that it had upon Micky Ward make this film a solid, well filmed and acted Oscar season winner.
