“The Fighter” A Captivating Boxing Drama

With the Oscars having already aired this month, I wanted to take a look at some prior Oscar nominees. And, one of the films I wanted to revisit is the 2010 film “The Fighter.”

For those who aren’t too familiar with the film, “The Fighter” centers on the lives of professional boxer Micky Ward and his older half brother and former boxer Dicky Eklund. The film was also partially inspired by the 1995 documentary featuring the Eklund-Ward family titled “High on Crack Street: Lost Lives in Lowell.”

For Micky Ward, boxing is a family affair. His tough-as-nails mother is his manager. His half brother, Dicky, once a promising boxer himself, is his very unreliable trainer.

Despite Micky’s hard work, he is losing and, when the latest fight nearly ends his career, he follows his girlfriend’s advice and splits from the family.

Then Micky becomes a contender for the world title and he- and his family - earns a shot at redemption.

“The Fighter” delivers captivating performances from Mark Wahlberg, Amy Adams and especially Christian Bale. This Oscar nominated film is extremely entertaining and is a solid boxing drama, despite it being a little predictable at times (which most underdog stories are).

In fact, both the boxing scenes and the acting are the major highlights of this film. The boxing sequences are very energetic and truly exciting. With Wahlberg’s acting and charisma, it helps make the boxing scenes feel extremely genuine.

Even though all of the boxing moments are exhilarating, his final boxing match in the film is simply the best. Not only is the final boxing match carrying the theme of fighting against the odds, it also serves as redemption for Micky Ward and his family, especially between him and Dicky. The finale boxing match is also the first match after Micky and Dicky finally reconciled their differences after Dicky finally stayed clean.

The entire cast did a great job in this film. Even though Wahlberg, Adams and Melissa Leo did great work, it was definitely Christian Bale who absolutely stole the show as Dicky Eklund. If you’re familiar with Bale’s acting, the acclaimed actor always disappears in his roles, and his performance in “The Fighter” is no different.

Bale really gave it his all for the Dicky Eklund role and really transformed himself tremendously. His performance in this film is absolutely one of his best and deserved his Oscar win for this role. 

“The Fighter” is a great Academy Award winning film that is a great mixture of sporting glory-hunting and family drama.

Cast: Mark Wahlberg (Micky Ward); Christian Bale (Dicky Eklund); Amy Adams (Charlene Felming); Melissa Leo (Alice Ward); Jack McGee (George Ward); Frank Renzulli (Sal Lanano); Mickey O’Keefe (himself)

Writer/director: Scott Silver (writer) (Joker; Joker: Folie a Deux; The Finest Hours; 8 MIle); Paul Tamasy (writer) (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare; Patriot’s Day); Eric Johnson (writer); David O. Russell (director) (Amsterdam; Joy; American Hustle; Silver Linings Playbook)

Trivia: Micky Ward’s real life trainer Mickey O’Keefe was asked to appear as himself in the film, but initially turned it down, since he had never acted before. Wahlberg told him he would be able to, since he was a cop, and therefore he has to act and think fast on his feet. This was convincing enough, and he took the role.

Bale spent hours with the real Dicky Eklund to learn how to emulate him properly. He had to lose 30 lbs. Because Eklund was a crack addict at the time. The film received seven Oscar nominations, winning two for Best Supporting Actor (Bale) and Best Supporting Actress (Leo). The other nominations included Best Picture, Director; Actor; Originally Screenplay and Film Editing.

MPAA rating: R for language throughout, drug content, some violence and sexuality   (running time 116 minutes)

Where to find the film? You can currently stream “The Fighter” on Paramount Plus and rent it via YouTube, Amazon Prime, Apple TV and Fandango.

• Christian Bale got involved when Mark Wahlberg asked him to take part in the movie. Wahlberg and Bale knew each other through their daughters, who attended the same elementary school.

• Micky Ward's real-life trainer Mickey O'Keefe was asked to appear as himself in the film, but turned the role down, since he had never acted before. Mark Wahlberg told him he would be able to, since he was a cop, and therefore he has to act and think fast on his feet. This was convincing enough, and he took the role.

• Christian Bale spent hours with the real Dicky Eklund to learn how to emulate him properly. He had to lose 30 pounds because Eklund was a crack addict at the time. Director David O. Russell said it was much more than mimicry. He remarked: "Dicky has a rhythm to him, a music. Christian had to understand how his mind works."

• Mark Wahlberg began training for the role in 2005. Throughout the various production delays, Wahlberg continued to train every day so that he could be ready for filming. Filming finally began in July 2009.

• Dicky Eklund did not like how his mother and sisters were portrayed in the film. He yelled at Christian Bale after a screening in anger. His sisters also did not like their portrayals. Beaver Eklund walked out of a screening of the film in protest.

• Cameras from 1990s-era HBO were used to film the boxing matches, and the documentary on Dicky Eklund's crack addiction.

• Darren Aronofsky was previously attached to direct, but left the production to work on Black Swan (2010).

• This was something of a comeback project for David O. Russell. I Heart Huckabees (2004) hadn't been as big a success as was hoped despite its all-star cast. Indeed, it was probably more famous for its viral on-set video of Russell berating Lily Tomlin. His next film Accidental Love (2015) was problematic from the start, was shut down in mid-production and was barely released when it was finally completed. By contrast, The Fighter (2010) was a relatively easy production and turned a tidy profit, whilst also bringing Russell his first Academy Award nomination.

• The interviews in the beginning and the end were improvised by Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg, while in-character. They were done late night with only Bale, Wahlberg, and David O. Russell present. Bale actually became emotional, and left the couch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhpX41osHLU