| The Fighter | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | David O. Russell |
| Produced by | David Hoberman Todd Lieberman Ryan Kavanaugh Mark Wahlberg Dorothy Aufiero Paul Tamasy (executive producer) Darren Aronofsky |
| Screenplay by | Scott Silver Paul Tamasy Eric Johnson |
| Story by | Keith Dorrington Paul Tamasy Eric Johnson |
| Starring | Mark Wahlberg Christian Bale Melissa Leo Amy Adams |
| Music by | Michael Brook |
| Cinematography | Hoyte van Hoytema |
| Editing by | Pamela Martin |
| Studio | Relativity Media Mandeville Films Closest to the Hole |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures (US) The Weinstein Company (non-US) |
| Release date(s) | December 10, 2010 (Limited) December 17, 2010 (Wide) |
| Running time | 115 minutes[1][2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $25 million[3] |
| Box office | $129,190,869[4] |
The Fighter is a 2010 biographical sports drama film directed by David O. Russell, and starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Melissa Leo and Amy Adams. The film centers on the life of professional boxer "Irish" Micky Ward (Wahlberg) and his older half-brother Dicky Eklund (Bale). The film also stars Amy Adams as Micky's love interest, and Melissa Leo as Micky's and Dicky's mother. The Fighter is Russell and Wahlberg's third film collaboration, following Three Kings and I Heart Huckabees.
The film was released in select North American theaters on December 17, 2010 and was released in the United Kingdom on February 4, 2011.[5] It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, winning the awards for Best Supporting Actor (Christian Bale) and Best Supporting Actress (Melissa Leo). It was the first film to win both awards since Hannah and Her Sisters in 1986.
Contents |
Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) is an Irish-American welterweight boxer from a working class family in Lowell, Massachusetts. Managed by his mother, Alice Ward (Melissa Leo), and trained by his older half-brother, Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale), Micky has not had a particularly successful career: He's become a "stepping stone" for other boxers to defeat on their way up. Complicating matters, Dicky, a former boxer whose peak of success was knocking Sugar Ray Leonard down in an HBO televised match, has fallen apart since his early success, becoming addicted to crack cocaine. He is now being filmed for an HBO documentary he believes to be about his "comeback".
On the night of an undercard fight in Atlantic City, Micky's scheduled opponent is ill, and a substitute is found who is 18 pounds heavier than Micky. Despite Micky's reservations, his mother and brother agree to the terms so that they can all get the purse. Micky is soundly defeated by the much heavier fighter in an obvious mismatch. Frustrated with his career and embarrassed by his defeat, Micky tries to retreat from the world and forms a relationship with Charlene Fleming (Amy Adams), a former college athlete who dropped out and became a bartender.
After several weeks, Alice arranges another fight for Micky, who, concerned it will turn out the same as before, shows serious hesitation. His mother and seven sisters blame Charlene for his lack of motivation. Micky mentions that he's received an offer to be paid to train in Las Vegas, but Dicky says he will match the offer so he can keep training and working with his family. Dicky then tries to get money by posing his girlfriend as a prostitute and then, once she picks up a client, impersonating a police officer to steal the client's money from their wallet. This is quickly foiled by the actual police and Dicky is arrested after a chase and a fight with them. Micky intervenes to try to stop the police from beating his brother, but a police officer breaks his hand before arresting him. At trial, Micky is released but Dicky is sent to jail. Finally fed up, Micky washes his hands of Dicky.
On the night of the HBO documentary, Dicky's family, and Dicky himself in prison, are horrified to see it is High on Crack Street: Lost Lives in Lowell, a documentary about how crack addiction ruined Dicky's career and life. Devastated, Dicky begins training and trying to get his life together in prison. Micky is lured back into boxing by his father, who believes Alice and his stepson Dicky are bad influences. Gathering the other members of his training team and finding a new manager, Sal Lonano, they convince Micky to return to boxing with the explicit understanding that his mother and brother will no longer be involved. They place Micky in minor fights to help him regain his confidence. He is then offered another major fight against an undefeated up-and-coming boxer. During a prison visit, Dicky advises Micky on how best to work his opponent, but Micky feels his brother is being selfish and trying to restart his own failed career. During the actual match, Micky is nearly overwhelmed at the beginning but, remembering his brother's advice, alters his strategy and is eventually triumphant; he earns the title shot for which his opponent was being groomed.
Upon his release from prison, Dicky and his mother go to see Micky train. Assuming things are as they were, Dicky prepares to spar with his brother, but Micky informs him that he's no longer allowed per Micky's agreement with his current team. In the ensuing argument, in which Micky chastises both factions of his family, Charlene and his trainer leave in disgust. Micky and Dicky spar, brought to an abrupt end when Micky knocks Dicky down. Dicky storms off, presumably to get high again, and Micky's mother chides Micky, only to be sobered when he tells her that she has always favored Dicky. Dicky returns to his crack house, where he says goodbye to his friends and heads to Charlene's apartment. He tells her that Micky needs both of them and they need to work together. After bringing everyone back together, the group goes to London for the title fight. Micky scores another upset victory and the welterweight title. The film jumps a few years ahead, with Dicky, as talkative as ever, crediting his brother as being the creator of his own success.
Scout Productions acquired the life rights of boxer Micky Ward and his brother, Dick Eklund, in July 2003. Eric Johnson and Paul Tamasy were also hired to write the screenplay,[17] which was rewritten by Lewis Colick.[18] Mark Wahlberg joined the production in early 2005,[12] with the intention of doing Ward's life story "justice. We don't want to do any over-the-top, unrealistic fight scenes."[19] Paramount Pictures, the United States distributor of the film, hired Paul Attanasio to rewrite Collick's draft in February 2007 in an attempt to emphasize the themes of brotherhood and redemption. Hoping to start production in Massachusetts in June 2007,[18] Wahlberg had Martin Scorsese read the screenplay, hoping he would direct. Scorsese turned down the offer, finding the Massachusetts-setting redundant after having finished The Departed.[20] The actor cited Scorsese's Raging Bull as an influence for The Fighter,[19] but Scorsese was not interested in directing another boxing film.[20] Darren Aronofsky was hired to direct in March 2007,[21] with Scott Silver rewriting the script in September 2007.[22]
| "I’ve seen every boxing movie ever made. I’m also a huge fight fan. I fought a little bit when I was younger. Nobody in my opinion, and some of the greatest movies ever made – you talk Raging Bull and Rocky I saw 30 times – but the fighting just wasn’t as realistic as what we hope to achieve and accomplish in this movie." |
| — Mark Wahlberg in an October 2007 interview[6] |
Production proceeded with filming set to begin October 2008[9] and Christian Bale replacing Brad Pitt.[10] By then Aronofsky had dropped out to work on MGM's currently aborted RoboCop remake,[23] followed by Black Swan.[24] Wahlberg and Bale chose David O. Russell as Aronofsky's replacement. Wahlberg had also starred in Russell's Three Kings and I Heart Huckabees.[10] Aronofsky was given an executive producer credit for his contributions on The Fighter, and was enthusiastic to have Russell as the director.[24] In April 2009, Relativity Media stepped up to entirely finance the film,[25] selling the international distribution rights to The Weinstein Company a month later.[26] The Fighter began principal photography on July 13, 2009, on an $11 million budget in a 33-day shooting schedule,[10] which was half the budget that Paramount was working with.[27] The production utilized Massachusetts' film tax credits to cover parts of the film's cost.[28]
The movie was filmed on location in Ward's hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts. Its boxing matches were shot at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell, and gym scenes at Arthur Ramalho's West End Gym, one of the real-life facilities where Ward had trained.[3][29] The boxing-match footage was created "in big, choreographed sections that were taken directly from [video of] Micky's actual fights," said Russell. "And we used the actual commentary from [HBO's] Larry Merchant, Roy Jones Jr. and Jim Lampley." Russell used "[t]he actual cameras from that era. [They were] a sort of Beta [video-format] camera that gave a very certain look, and we actually hired the director from HBO and his crew who had done those fights"[3] to replicate them shot-for-shot.[6][12]
To promote the film, Wahlberg appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated and Men's Fitness, and Bale on Esquire,[15] in November 2010. An advanced charity premiere took place in Lowell, Massachusetts, the setting of The Fighter, on December 9, a day before the film's scheduled national release.[30]
The Fighter was released in a Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo pack and standard DVD in the US on March 15, 2011.
The Fighter received critical acclaim. Critics have praised the performances of Wahlberg, Bale, Adams and Leo. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 91% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 225 reviews, with an average score of 7.8/10. The critical consensus is: "Led by a trio of captivating performances from Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, and Amy Adams, The Fighter is a solidly entertaining, albeit predictable, entry in the boxing drama genre."[31] Metacritic gave the film an average score of 79/100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[32]
Due to the film's involving boxing, Ring Magazine also gave its critique, saying that because it left out the Trilogy with Arturo Gatti it was like doing a movie about the entire life of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and not including World War II.
Sports Illustrated dubbed the film the best sports movie of the decade and "one of the best since Martin Scorsese backlit Robert De Niro's Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull.".[33] Richard Corliss of Time Magazine named Christian Bale's performance one of the Top 10 Movie Performances of 2010, saying "In a little festival of tart, savory performances, notably from Melissa Leo as the boys' mother and Amy Adams as Micky's girlfriend, Bale shines the brightest, because he knows that no character, however depraved his status, is only a monster. He finds beauty in the beast".[34]
The film received 7 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.[35]The film was nominated for six Golden Globe Awards. Best Picture (Drama), Best Actor (Drama) for Wahlberg, Best Supporting Actress for Leo and Adams, Best Supporting Actor for Bale, and a nomination for Best Director for Russell.[36] The film received three Chicago Film Critics award nominations, Best Supporting Actor for Christian Bale, and Best Supporting Actress nominations for Amy Adams and Melissa Leo. Christian Bale won a Satellite Award, the Critics' Choice Award, and the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. Melissa Leo won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. Christian Bale won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Actor Mark Wahlberg has expressed interest in creating a single sequel to The Fighter, with much of the original cast. According to him, it would focus on Micky Ward's three "epic battles" with professional boxer Arturo Gatti.[42]
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hannah and Her Sisters |
Academy Award winner for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress |
|
|
|||||||||||