The Fighter [Blu-ray]

The Fighter is the true story of Micky Ward (Played by Mark Wahlberg - Shooter) a Massachusetts raised boxer who has spent his entire life in the shadow of his older half-brother - Dicky Eklund (played by Christian Bale - The Machinist) who once went toe-to-toe with 'Sugar' Ray Leonard and even knocked him down - probably. Micky is managed and trained by his overbearing Mother and now crack-addicted brother and begins to think that it isn't his capacity as a boxer that is holding him back, it's having to carry his family around. When Micky meets Charlene (Amy Adams) she gives him the courage & inspiration to stride out on his own and try for the welterweight title.

Draped in a true story, the Fighter is an epic 'against-the-odds' story of a working class hero. The Fighter is well acted, with both of the protagonists going through some pretty extreme physical regimes to play the welterweight boxer and crack-addict former boxer, it's all very convincing but given that Wahlberg is from a working-class Massachusetts family, it's not much of a stretch for him as he fits the role perfectly. More impressive is Bale's dedication to the role of Dicky, slimming down massively and learning Micky's distinctive Boston-drawl to play a very touching role of a man fallen from glory who's very existence is defined by a single moment in his past "I knocked down Sugar-Ray dontcha know?". The supporting cast are all very capable, especially Micky's mother who doubles up as his manager and his venomous gaggle of gossip sisters.

Whilst almost all boxing movies are compared to a Rocky this has a pretty minimal amount of boxing in it and really can't be. The final fight will have you on the edge of your seat as you will Micky to win the title, but by-and-large, the main dynamic of the film is Micky struggling with his brother whom he can't be without, his mother and his love-life. It's an honestly touching story and I ended up really feeling for the characters - it's that well directed by David O. Russell. The soundtrack is fantastic as well. So it's a great film and has won or been nominated for a slew of industry awards - the majority of which are Best Supporting Actor for Bale's performance of Dicky - this has to be to the chagrin of Wahlberg who ushered this from a script all the way to this cinematic epic.

Highly recommended!

Right away from the very start this is very gripping. The performances are truly excellent, not just Bale, Adams and Wahlberg, but the entire cast. The script seems very realistic and the exploits of the characters are emotionally moving, grimly funny and always fascinating.

This is a proper powerhouse of sporting drama - with more emphasis on the drama. The boxing scenes are fun, but nothing close to something like Raging Bull or Rocky. That's really my one criticism - the story of Ward's boxing career is pretty unremarkable, until his epic trilogy with Arturo Gatti, which is not featured. Also, the underdog narrative is very tired and boxing fans know that Ward's "big shot at the title" never really happened the way it's presented (he never won a legitimate world title, despite being a real warrior). So that detracted from the overall quality of the film, for me, being a big boxing fan.

The audio-visual quality of the Blu-ray is very good, the picture is very crisp, sharp and consistent, the sound very effective. Overall this is a really good film and Blu-ray, well worth buying.

Based on a true story, `The Fighter' is the story of two brothers, Micky Ward (Wahlberg) and Dicky Eklund (Bale) who are boxing heroes around their home town of Lowell in the USA.

Dicky is renowned for his past boxing career, but has fallen on hard times after becoming addicted to crack. Micky is his younger brother who wishes to emulate and surpass Dicky's success and make a name for himself and his family. Dicky's addiction overshadows his brothers chances of getting respected fights and when he ends up in prison it gives Micky the opportunity get a new support team and start to turn things around. But it is when Dicky finally gets clean, gets released from prison, makes amends with Micky and the family and rejoins his brothers team, that everything really comes together and things take a final upward spiral.

This film has excellent performances from all involved and Bale and Wahlberg are exceptional as the main characters. Micky's girlfriend Charlene is a stabilising influence in his life and the actress who plays her is also really good. This film has a superb soundtrack with tracks by The Rolling Stones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Whitesnake and way more besides, it really lifts certain scenes in the film.

The fight scenes are well choreographed and make for a good mixture of tension and excitement and the director manages to make everything look authentic.

It is hard to fully warm to some of the characters, but you always appreciate where they are coming from and the influence and impact they have in each others lives. This is a great story of perseverance and overcoming adversity to reach your dreams and for this alone it is quite inspiring. I admit I have seen better bio-pics of this type, but this is perfectly watchable and makes for just under 2 hours entertaining viewing. This well worth checking out at some point.

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