Here we are again!
It's another rainy, stormy Saturday night as I type this.
Once again I've spent the evening preparing and enjoying an amazing meal with my better half, followed by dedicated movie time with a bottle of wine. She makes crazy good popcorn, I have to say. This time around it was some veg from the farmers market, buffalo burgers and corn on the cob, followed by the Oscar dark horse of last year, The Fighter.
Holy Hannah, was that a solid evening.
I get now why there was such a fuss over the movie. Having been involved in planning a wedding, being stuck in America's frozen tundra and not wanting to shell out approximately $30 to see it in the theaters, we waited until now to catch up on some of last year's buzz films. Hey, it's cheaper this way, all right? Don't judge - I don't torrent and I'm not made of money.
Anyway.
While being a fairly rote boxing movie, The Fighter is still incredibly well-constructed and well-executed, to the point that I talked a great deal during the film, mostly my remarking about the nature of boxing and the quality of performance on screen. Not to look down my nose, but it is a rather by-the-numbers underdog movie - it's just that everyone in it is so phenomenal. David O. Russell did an amazing job assembling a cast and framing every shot. I really do feel that I could write hundreds of words on every scene. From the way the ropes of the ring intersect faces to where music cuts in and out, this is a film that is absolutely intentionally constructed, down to the finest detail.
Of particular note in The Fighter are the supporting players. While Mark Wahlberg is the star, Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Melissa Leo give astounding, trans formative performances that one could use as signatory examples of what their craft aspires to. Melissa Leo simply gets lost in her role as Micky Ward's mother/manager, with intensity and hard-lined devotion fueling her motivation - I look forward to her performance in Kevin Smith's forth-coming Red State. Amy Adams delivers a genuine and completely believable turn as the down-on-her-luck girlfriend. The real show, though, is Christian Bale - the manner in which he channels a crack addicted has been, only to redeem the irredeemable, is simply captivating. We're talking about an actor who physically goes from this:
To this:
And then back to this, for the last in the Nolan-Batman trilogy:
Bale is haunting and riveting, in the best way possible. He summons the persona of Dicky Eklund, for better or worse, somehow entirely through the use of his eyes and relentless nervous energy. Seeing the real-life clips of the actual Eklund at the end of the movie only reinforces the unnerving impersonation Bale is able to pull off.
I was thoroughly engaged through the entire movie. If you've waited this long to see The Fighter, go pick it up now and see what everyone else freaked out about last year. It's no wonder The Academy was so up-in-arms about who to give the Oscar to - this upset the apple cart with good reason. I'll catch you tomorrow, gang.
It's another rainy, stormy Saturday night as I type this.
Once again I've spent the evening preparing and enjoying an amazing meal with my better half, followed by dedicated movie time with a bottle of wine. She makes crazy good popcorn, I have to say. This time around it was some veg from the farmers market, buffalo burgers and corn on the cob, followed by the Oscar dark horse of last year, The Fighter.
I get now why there was such a fuss over the movie. Having been involved in planning a wedding, being stuck in America's frozen tundra and not wanting to shell out approximately $30 to see it in the theaters, we waited until now to catch up on some of last year's buzz films. Hey, it's cheaper this way, all right? Don't judge - I don't torrent and I'm not made of money.
Anyway.
While being a fairly rote boxing movie, The Fighter is still incredibly well-constructed and well-executed, to the point that I talked a great deal during the film, mostly my remarking about the nature of boxing and the quality of performance on screen. Not to look down my nose, but it is a rather by-the-numbers underdog movie - it's just that everyone in it is so phenomenal. David O. Russell did an amazing job assembling a cast and framing every shot. I really do feel that I could write hundreds of words on every scene. From the way the ropes of the ring intersect faces to where music cuts in and out, this is a film that is absolutely intentionally constructed, down to the finest detail.
I was thoroughly engaged through the entire movie. If you've waited this long to see The Fighter, go pick it up now and see what everyone else freaked out about last year. It's no wonder The Academy was so up-in-arms about who to give the Oscar to - this upset the apple cart with good reason. I'll catch you tomorrow, gang.
