Monday, March 7, 2011

A Movie Review: The Fighter

The Fighter. This is a based-upon-true-events movie about boxer Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg) who eventually went on to become a boxing world champion. As the story unfolds, we are witnesses to the challenges that face Mickey Ward. His family (which also helps run his career) is a mess. His trainer (and brother) Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale) is a crack addict. His mother is his manager (Melissa Leo) and is obviously over her head. Yes, she loves her son, but she doesn't have the necessary skills to manager her son's career -- as well as the fact that she can't see that Dicky is a messed up human being who needs help. And there is the love story between Mickey and Charlene Fleming (Amy Adams)that brings the necessary stability to Mickey's life.

This movie kept my attention throughout. You can't help but cheer for the various characters: you want Mickey Ward to succeed, you want Dicky Eklund to conquer his addiction, you want Charlene not to give up on Mickey.

Comment: I did some research on the real life events. The after-story on Dicky Eklund is not as positive as the movie leads one to believe -- unfortunately.

No comments: