The Fighter
Christian Bale, you are my hero. He might for serious be my favorite actor. This is a man that seems to give 110% at everything and anything he does (although I haven't seen Terminator: Salvation, so he might not actually be perfect, however hard that may be to believe). You can tell that he put his whole heart and soul into this character. I heard it said somewhere and I'm not sure where, but I agree with it: this is Christian's movie. Mark Whalberg is the lead, and he gives the strongest performance I've ever seen from him, but when you're up against Bale there is just no competition. He earned that Oscar. But enough Christian Bale lovin', what about the movie itself?
It was decently adequate. Nothing spectacular. I knew how the film was going to play out, and perhaps that made it less compelling than it could have been, but it was definitely worth watching. Melissa Leo does a great job here at creating a good deal of the family's turmoil, and it's very interesting to watch it all play out, much to Micky's dismay.
Strong performances throughout, and a very well-done albeit predictable screenplay, with some decent tunes thrown in for good measure. Most of the soundtrack is classic rock, although I did notice some RHCP in there. There's a section in the second act where they throw in Aerosmith's "Back in the Saddle", and it just feels cheesy as hell, almost like they're shoving it right in your face: "Haha, see! He's starting to win! It totally fits!" But it just comes off feeling silly.
If that sounds nitpicky, it's because it is. It's hard to find anything specifically wrong with this movie. It's just all around good, a very enjoyable boxing movie. The film doesn't ever stray off the beaten path, and that's ok. Sometimes that's all you want, and The Fighter delivers.
Oh, and did I mention that Christian Bale is just awesome? Because he is awesome.
