Movie Review: The Fighter

Saturday night, after watching the Grizzlies get a thrilling win against the Oklahoma City Thunder, we put Cooper to bed and started The Fighter. I figured we would like it, but had no idea how much I'd fall in love with this movie.

For those living under a rock, The Fighter follows the story of Dicky Eklund and Micky Ward, boxing half-brothers living in Massachusetts. Dicky gained famed by knocking down Sugar Ray Leonard in a 1978 boxing match, while Micky is mainly seen as a stepping stone other boxers use to improve their skills. Dicky is a cocaine addict and is being filmed by a HBO crew, who he wrongly assumes is filming his comeback to boxing. By the time the documentary airs, Dicky is in jail and Micky has decided to cut ties with his mom (formerly his manager) and brother (formerly his trainer) in an effort to have a chance to make boxing a career. The Eklund-Ward family has a rude awakening watching the documentary and through a series of events, the storyline evolves and changes.

I didn't think The Fighter would tug at my heartstrings like it did. Christian Bale did a wonderful job portraying a crack addict. As weird as that sounds, he pulled it off perfectly. The cinematography was great. Lots of scenes from the boxing matches were done in slow motion, so every with every hit, it seemed more dramatic. Even for someone like me, who knows next to nothing about boxing, was intrigued at how much you could tell Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale trained for the movie.

I highly, highly recommend checking The Fighter out!