Only one more film to go! Today I watched "The Fighter" which is barely playing in theaters anymore. It has been recommended to me by every one of my co-workers but I honestly do not like Mark Wahlberg so I've stayed away. But now that the Oscars have nominated it then I must. And I did.
Brief breakdown in case there's someone out there who still hasn't seen it: Mark Wahlberg is Micky Ward a boxer who has been trained by his older brother Dicky (Christian Bale) and has been managed by his mother (Melissa Leo) all his life. Dicky was a good boxer too (his claim to fame is a title fight with Sugar Ray Leonard) but now he's a crack addict and HBO is doing a documentary about him. That's where the movie starts, and then Micky is sold out by his family to fight with a much heavier boxer in order to get paid.
It's all a big family drama concealed inside a good boxing film. But this doesn't quite come close to "Rocky". The difference is that although Micky is the main character, the person who really catches our attention is Dicky. It's hard not to notice him since he's constantly trying to nab the spotlight, in one scene Micky is taking press fotos with his opponent and Dicky can be seen just inside the picture. His sisters love him, his mother loves him, his little boy loves him, and his kid brother idolizes him. Don't you just want this guy to get off drugs?
In "Rocky" Rocky has one dream: to be a somebody. Cuz he's a bum. Micky tries to convince us he's a bum but he's not really. He has a life that many people have and they don't get their dreams either (plus, his dream is not his but it's intertwined with his family's dreams now that Dicky is out). If not for Bale (and the rest of the supporting cast) I don't think this film would've made it this far. Bale is an incredible actor who can transform himself and get into the skin of his characters. Yesterday he was Batman, today he's crack addict Dicky, tomorrow he's back in the bat suit. Dicky is skin and bones with thinning hair and a constant need to move around, whether it's from being a boxer or from being on crack or both I have no idea. Wahlberg unfortunately is the weak link, walking and talking slow. How can you help yourself when Bale is right there acting his ass off? Wahlberg's always been an okay actor (he was nominated as a supporting actor for "The Departed) and he's a believable boxer but you always know that you're watching Mark Wahlberg. The same thing happens when you watch Will Smith or Tom Cruise, you always know it's them.
Sidenote: Will Smith played Muhammad Ali in the film "Ali" but it was his supporting actor, Jamie Foxx, who won the Oscar. Same thing with "The Fighter", although Smith gets kudos for attempting to play such a larger-than-life character.
Also in the supporting roles (and stealing their own scenes) are Leo and Amy Adams. Leo plays a mother who somehow manages to control the nine or so "children" she has and a couple of men. With a constant cigarrette between her fingers and killer heels on her feet, she keeps her husband in line and manages her son's boxing career. She's not quite the manipulative bitch I thought she'd be, she's just a mom watching out for her kids the only way that she knows how and the only way that it's ever worked for her. Enter Amy Adams who (mothers beware) whispers sweet thoughts into Micky's ears sprinkled with advice (mainly "get away from your family"). Adams is another actress who has managed to fight her way into heavy-weight status. She now has her third Oscar nomination in less than a decade. That's pretty frickin awesome! AND she is going to play Janis Joplin in a new movie :)
It's possible that the actresses with end up cancelling each other out come Oscar night but with a Golden Globe already, I think Melissa Leo has an edge.
As for Christian Bale... it's his to lose.
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