The Fighter

The Fighter, based on a true story, is about two boxing legends,  "Irish" Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg; Boogie Nights, The Happening) and his older brother Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale; Batman).  I don't particularly care for films about sports, but this was a pretty great movie.  The majority of it didn't even show the boxing matches, leaving more time to focus on the actual story at hand. Dicky and Micky were professional boxers Lowell, Massachusetts.  Dicky was even known as "The Pride of Lowell" at one point.  Eklund's boxing career spanned from 1975-1985.  His most famous fight, which he speaks of a lot in the film, was in 1978 when he knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard.  Dicky went on to train his half-brother Micky Ward, who went pro in 1985, went on a hiatus 5 years later.  Ward's manager was his mother Alice (Melissa Leo; Welcome to the Rileys), who had seven other children (all women, Dicky and Micky were the only boys).  Micky soon meets bartender Charlene Fleming (Amy Adams; Enchanted, Julie & Julia) and falls in love. Dicky is also dealing with a crack addiction, and while trying to raise money so his brother can train year round, Dicky soon gets arrested for impersonating a police officer and resisting arrest, among many other crimes causing him to go to jail.  Micky soon starts training with local sergeant Micky O'Keefe (played by himself) and his father, George Ward (Jack McGee; Crash, 21) hires friend and businessman Sal Lanano(Frank Renzulli; producer of The Sopranos) as Micky's manager.  Micky is told by O'Keefe, his father, and Charlene that he can no longer work with Dicky or Alice, however.  Micky must decided whether or not to continue working with his family despite trouble they cause and drama they bring along with them.
The Fighter is nominated for 7 Oscars, Best Picture, Best Directing (David O. Russell; Three Kings, I Heart Huckckabees), Best Editing, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Christian Bale), Best Performance by Actress in a Supporting Role (Amy Adams and Melissa Leo), and Best Writing (Original Screenplay).  OK first, I want to get one thing out,  Christian Bale playing the older brother to Mark Wahlberg did not work for me.  One reason being, Wahlberg is slightly older, born in 1971 and Bale was born in 1974.  You can put all the make up on him, make him lose all the weight and hair you need him to lose, but Christian Bale still doesn't look older than Marky Mark.  I'm sorry, but that was the one thing that bothered me, although they both did a pretty good job on their roles.  Bale does a magnificent scumbag, so much so he reminds me of someone with whom I work who is probably also addicted to crack.  I guess I can let the age difference slide.  He might have a good chance of winning Best Supporting Actor.  As for the two ladies, my vote is for Melissa Leo.  Amy Adams did do a wonderful job though, she's come a long way from her sweet days on the Office and in Enchanted, but Leo's character as Alice was great.  She was so funny in so many ways.  They both let me see that Massachusetts women don't mess around, but the scene where Leo has to throw the pan at McGee was terrific.  I felt her pain and betrayal.  I almost feel bad for her.
As for Best Picture, it's a tough call being up against Black Swan and the overrated Social Network, but at least it got the publicity it deserved.  I also think it was well written because it wasn't just simply a sport's movie to me.  There were times when I almost forgot I was watching a boxing movie.  The audience was in laughing a lot more than I expected.  The realness of the family drama was portrayed well on the screen.  For not being familiar with the story or the boxing brothers, I felt the film laid out a good story so I had a better understanding of everything.
On another note, why does Hollywood have this obsession with hotness?  I admit there have been times when recreating stories that Hollywood has been right on with casting (i.e. Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerburg and Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett) but usually they just try to make the characters look super hott compared to the real people.  They showed the real Dicky and Micky during the end credits, and Christian and Marky Mark look nothing like them.  They should have at least gotten people in their 40s to make it more realistic.  All I'm saying is I hope Meghan Fox plays me in my life story.
Oh yeah, I wanted to add one more thing.  I'm glad The Fighter isn't nominated for Cinematography because some of those close up scenes where tops of heads and chins were cut off (for instance in the hotel room when they're trying to convince Micky to box a guy 20 pounds heavier than him) was, I found, quite annoying and awkward at times.  I know the D.P. is trying to be all artistic and stuff, but this isn't an artsy movie so please be consistent.  Also, another thing I noticed was this film was produced by Darren Aronofsky who, as you may know, was the director for Black Swan.  Hmmm, maybe its chances of winning just got better.