The Fighter

"I want my family.  What's wrong with that?"

David O. Russell's third feature with  Mark Wahlberg follows a familiar path - underdog sportsman coming good - but the sport itself takes a back seat as the film focuses on the indisputably intriguing family life of its hero.
Micky Ward is a boxer inspired to fight by his older half brother, Dicky, a former Welterweight who has lost his way thanks to drug addiction.  Despite this Dicky trains him and their mother (irrepressibly played by Melissa Leo) manages his career.  As the film progresses Dicky's life spirals out further out of control and the family struggle to come to terms with their situation.

Let's start by saying that despite what you might be hearing, Mark Wahlberg is not really the leading man in this film.  Ok, so his may be the character around whom the situation revolves, but if you are looking for a leading performance, Christian Bale provides all of the entertainment and a great deal of the heart as well as seeming to command the greatest proportion of screen time.  This could be because a great deal of Wahlberg's scenes take place in the ring (where he puts in one hell of a performance) and when the story does focus on him he is left playing the situation rather than a fully formed character.  It is a pity that this is how it plays out as he does end up coming across as rather dull and anyone who's seen I Heart Huckabees or The Departed will know that he can fill a screen with a big personality and quirky persona when it's asked of him.  Sadly it is not asked of him here and he gets lost in the background even as the light is shining on him in a film crammed with defiant characters (Micky's 7 sisters included - used to excellent comic effect throughout) and he winds up rather forgettable.
Christian Bale has praised this 'quiet' performance for allowing his own performance to work and while it may assist his scene stealing activities but from the opening frame his mesmeric, tempestuous, yet considered performance is a force to be reckoned with and entirely of his own making.  Melissa Leo comes closest to keeping pace yet it is Amy Adam's Charlene, with her single-minded and straight talking manner, that makes for the perfect sparring partner.

For a film immersed in 'loud' acting the soundtrack is likewise brilliantly overwhelming.  Songs blare across dialogue and the decibels reached by the crowd during the fights themselves work more effectively than 3D ever could to make you feel like you're there while the switch between the looks - from film to TV footage for the fights and back again - assists in taking you directly into the viewing experience of the family gathered around the telly.

It does all seem rather familiar, though.  Christian Bale gives a performance worthy of many a re-watch but the film tends to lose impetus when he disappears from the screen.  The family are clearly vintage film material but they are set against the sporting tale it can feel a bit seen-it-all-before despite the good intentions and hard work of cast and crew

See it for Bale, Adams and a great script - 8/10