Film Review: "The Fighter" (2010)
When making a genre movie, the movie in question will always be compared to those which have come before it. The Fighter is a boxing movie, and it’s merits must be bench marked against others in its genre. What does it do differently? What haven’t we seen before? Why does it stand out on its own?
I’ve compared The Fighter to the following films, my personal favourite boxing films:
Raging Bull, Cinderella Man, Rocky, Ali.
In Cinderella Man we care and root for Braddock because he was living in the depression and the whole country was affected - through boxing, he could find way out.
Jake LeMotta is one of the least likable characters in a sports movie, but Scorsese’s innovative imagery and choreography combined with the perfect example of movie photography (has black and white ever looked better in a modern film?) makes this not only the best boxing ever, but one of the greatest films in American cinema.
Rocky is the classic ‘underdog’ story; but it’s not about the boxing, we watch it for the character’s development and his ‘million to one shot’ at the title. We know he loses the fight, but you can’t help but root for him each time you watch it.
I don’t put Ali in the same class as those three, but Michael Mann’s original take on filming a boxing bout is to be praised.
The Fighter, on the other hand, doesn’t break any new ground. The boxing scenes are lacklustre, the punches are never believable or violent nor are they presented to us in an innovative way. Moreover, when the fight scenes are on screen, they are the least interesting scenes in the film.
The acting is excellent, but you’d expect nothing else. Christian Bale gives an Oscar worthy performance, but not the best of his career; that credit should be bestowed on Mark Wahlberg, but he was overlooked during last week’s nominations.
The final fight is as big an anti-climax as you’re likely to see - do we even care Ward has won? I didn’t because there was nothing which had gone before it to make me. Perhaps a film focusing on his brother’s demise into drug addiction would have made for a better project.
VERDICT: 6/10
