The Fighter
Two boxing brothers—played by Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg—battle their differences and their large, overbearing family.
Directed by David O. Russell
(R)
***
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This gritty new boxing movie dances “dangerously close to the corny,” said Anthony Lane in The New Yorker. The story of Micky Ward—a real-life fighter from blue-collar Lowell, Mass., who can find glory in the ring only by stepping out of the shadow of his older brother—it eventually resorts to “teary triumphalism” to pull its disparate pieces together. But what keeps us riveted most of the way is Ward’s large, overbearing family, said David Ansen in Newsweek. As Micky, Mark Wahlberg is a quiet but “fiercely loyal” kid brother, while Christian Bale is “poisonously good” as their mother’s favorite, a gregarious one-time contender now addicted to crack and spiraling downward. The main suspense comes from wondering which siblings will emerge from the family’s “rat’s nest of co-dependence and self-destruction.” The Fighter “handles itself well in the ring,” said Joe Morgenstern in The Wall Street Journal. But led by Wahlberg’s and Bale’s “phenomenal performances,” the film does even better in the domestic arena. Don’t think of it as a new Rocky; its “spectacularly toxic” family could have come from a Eugene O’Neill play.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'Will growth slow, or is the economy about to fall off a cliff?'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Senate passes FAA bill with new consumer protections
Speed Read The legislation will require airlines to refund customers for flight delays
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump pledged pro-oil policy to CEOs, asked for $1B
Speed Read The former president promised to reverse Biden's environmental regulations if elected
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published