Wonderful character development!

The greatest movie ever made..!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

This movie was the last movie on my 2011 Oscars highlights list to watch and it stars a stellar cast and tells the story of Micky Ward and how he tried to rise up to boxing glory just like his brother once did.Firstly this movie is filled with fantastic performances. From Wahlberg's very underrated performance to Amy Adams' wonderful portrayal of Charlene and to Christian Bale's superb and crazy acting. To this day that is one of Christian Bale's best performances and I understood why he got the Oscar in 2011. This was a very crazy performance but as the movie shows the real Dicky person by the end, a very accurate portrayal of this interesting character. Wahlberg's performance is one of the most underrated things in this movie. He was calm and natural and realistic for the most part of the movie. Seeing him not getting nominated was weird and seeing Melissa Leo winning best actress was even weirder. The story is very true to the actual fact although some times it can be seen that it's been hollywoodized with periods where the hero is beaten up and then miraculously wins somehow. But that is done in a very fine way that made me close my eyes and say "yeah... it's ok!" compared to how the rest of the story unfolds. And really that would be my biggest gripe with the movie that sometimes the story gets somewhat hollywood typical and the boxing gets less real for more entertainment value, but that didn't took away too much from the quality of the movie. The story is very dramatic and very surprising and satisfying at times. There are lessons about redemption about rising up to big challenges and about trying to get everyone to support you the best they can while also emphasizing on how you should treasure everyone around you and take the best from everyone. This is a very motivational movie and a very realistic and well made movie with a great direction and superb cinematography that imitates the aura of television boxing very well. The music is just what you would need in this movie not being too sentimental and not too weird or unfitting for some sentimental moments, but gets the right balance between them. In conclusion: Great movie with fantastic performances, great story, great directing and powerful messages. One of 2010's best movies along with The King's Speech, Black Swan and Inception. 9/10

Coming from Boston I had previous knowledge of Mickey Ward and his brother Dick Eckland. I found the portrayal credible. What impressed me most was Christian Bale's performance of a strung out junkie. He was very credible. When you contrast his performance in The Fighter to his performance in "American Hustle" is reveals just how talented he is. I recommend this film highly. Mark Wahlberg and Amy Adams were also very credible.

For whatever reason, considering the low real-world current popularity of the sport, boxing fares quite well at the cinema (think Rocky, The Champ, & Million Dollar Baby to name a few). That tradition continues with "The Fighter", a film that delves into so many more themes than just the sweet science.For a basic plot summary, "The Fighter" tells the dual stories of brothers Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and Dickie Ecklund (Christian Bale). Coming from a family of almost total dysfunction and seemingly headed for a life of manual labor, the boxing brothers each face their own inner demons as Mickey takes his "last shot" at pugilistic success.What really makes this a spectacular movie is the incredible complexity of the characters. Nothing is black-and-white about the entire experience, with all the plots/characters providing ample opportunities for shades of grey (the sign of most truly great movies). Nothing is predictable whatsoever, with the character dynamics changing regularly as the situations dictate. From beginning to end, the intense emotional roller-coaster will keep you on the edge of your seat.Of course, what makes those emotions really "pop" are the incredible acting performances. Bale nearly steals the entire show as the enigmatic Dickie, cementing himself as perhaps the greatest pure actor of the present day. Wahlberg also nails the emotionally-drained Ward as he tries to navigate the pathetic petty family drama. Finally, Amy Adams (playing Charlene, Mickey's girlfriend) shows her acting chops as the fulcrum point from which Mickey goes from "hanger- on" to "legitimate contender".The directing is adept as well, considering that no scene or character is wasted. Every single frame and interaction is meaningful in the overall scheme of things.Thus, I consider "The Fighter" to be one of the greatest sports films of all-time. Everything (from acting to plot to direction) is solid and no time is wasted in the hour and fifty minute runtime. I could have watched two MORE hours and not have been bored in the slightest.

On the rise to fame and success, a young boxer must decide whether to continue training with his family or seek professional training and management elsewhere in this sports drama based on true events. Mark Wahlberg is solid as the conflicted boxer in question and Amy Adams does well cast-against-type as his foul-mouthed bartender girlfriend, but is Christian Bale who steals every scene he is in as Wahlberg's older brother. A former boxing legend himself, Bale has delusions of grandeur and believes that the TV crew who have recently arrived to film him are making a documentary about his long awaited comeback when in reality they are making a film about his descent into heroine addiction. The overall film fascinatingly follows this structure too, opening with a lot of focus on Bale, only for Wahlberg to be eventually revealed as the true star (what a great metaphor for Bale's character coming to realise that not everything is about him). Melissa Leo also gets quite a bit of screen time as the brothers' overbearing mother, however, the rest of the family are disappointingly barely fleshed out all, including Jack McGee as Wahlberg's father, who could have been quite interesting given that he actually sides with Adams about his son's career. As for the sisters, they are all interchangeable stereotypes. This is, however, principally a film about the brothers and their every interaction is compelling. The end credits are also worth watching here for appearances by the brothers whose lives the film was based on - Dicky and Micky Ward.