Plenty of gimmickry and 3D fare, certainly, but the year 2010 really hasn’t given us much so far in the way of honest, Oscar-contending films.
Unless you count The Fighter starring Mark Wahlberg as the legendary boxer Irish Mickey Ward as one of them. And you almost certainly have to, because Ward’s punch-your-way-up-the-ladder story is the precise dream and wish fulfillment inspired by Rocky, the boxing movie which catapulted Sylvester Stallone to stardom.
Wahlberg is an always likable screen presence, and, by now, he’s used to playing blue collar heroes – especially if you remember his turn in “Invincible” where he was Vince Papale, the pride of Philadelphia bar rooms, when Papale, a substitute teacher by trade, made it on to the Eagles football roster against impossible odds. Pretty much the same story at work here.
As the film begins, Ward’s got a little to none chance of hanging in the fight game being one of those palookas who’s looked at as a welcome wagon and stepping stone for more talented boxers. He’s trained by his brother, Dickey Eklund, whose claim to fame in Lowell, Massachusetts, where the story’s set, is the fact that he once knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard in a fight. Or did he?
The matter is certainly up for debate, and Eklund played by the always marvelous Christian Bale, wouldn’t remember the hazy details anyway since he’s now a gifted crackhead and absolutely unreliable. Particularly when it comes to showing up at the gym to train his brother.
We also learn that HBO’s doing a documentary on Eklund, who’s convinced it’s about his past glories in the ring, but the real subject matter is crack addiction. It takes a scuffle with local enforcement over his impersonating a cop, and a stint in prison for Eklund to finally wise-up.
Wahlberg, meanwhile has met the local bartender [Amy Adams], a fiesty redhead, who’s got more sense that his entire family of big-haired, potty-mouthed sisters and mother put together. Adams, playing against her normal goody-two-shoes type, has convinced Wahlberg that his managerial relationship with the family has done nothing but earn opportunities for himself as a doormat and needs to stop.
Naturally, this divisive tactic is exactly what the family doesn’t want since Wahlberg, to a great degree, has been their meal ticket. Wahlberg then gets a couple of fights that miraculously turn his life around as he reaches deep in his heart to alter his fate and career.
Where our collective penises cloud our judgment and common sense, are those moments in The Fighter when Adams cavorts in skimpy black bra and panties. [Oh, those butt cheeks.]
We’ve lusted for Amy greatly since her bit part in Charlie Wilson’s War but figured the luscious Adams was a lost cause when she played a nun in “Doubt” which put her talented acting chops on display. Finally it’s her figure, and God, as The Fighter will show you, does have a way of squaring things in the ring.
No nudity, sorry, but Amy’s titillating peek-a-boo bedroom romp with Wahlberg is enough for a few precious freeze frame moments when the DVD comes out.
