"Based on a true story" is a term that carries a lot of weight in literature and film. In a heroic and positive work, it's natural to find yourself rooting that much harder for the protagonist—you want to believe that this actually happened to somebody, and that the human spirit actually prevailed to that extent, and rah rah. (I cried at the end of Rudy, and you know what? I'm a Michigan fan.) In serious and even grave works, as the Coen brothers noted with respect to their masterpiece Fargo, "based on a true story" can let you get away with things that the audience might dismiss as being over the top or excessively cruel. (Even though said film was actually fictional.)
But sometimes I think "based on a true story" can be taken too literally, and I felt that way after Mark Wahlberg's magnum opus The Fighter. The story of Micky Ward is told, as far as most anyone knows, almost exactly as it happened. Mark Wahlberg spent years conditioning and training for the film and actually invited real-life Micky into his home for a few months prior to filming to master his mannerisms and so on. The tragic but redeeming tale of his brother Dicky, a recovered crackhead, is executed masterfully by Christian Bale. The improbable victory Micky pulls off at the end—c'mon, it's a boxing movie, is that even a spoiler?—is written for Hollywood, it seems, with all of Micky's motley crew there by his side to congratulate him.
And I just... didn't quite feel it.
I think movie had a few problems, but one of the biggest might have been the lack of artistic license Wahlberg and director David O. Russel took. Micky is strong and determined, but he also comes off a bit indecisive and very understated. We know what's going through his head, but the lack of passion made me care significantly less than I felt like I should have at the final count.
Bale's character, Dicky, is obnoxious and self-absorbed for the most part, and the movie seems to be as much about his recovery and redemption as it is about Micky's career. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing—it's a touching tale, and one of the most moving, feel-good moments of the film actually didn't take place inside the ring but involved a store-bought cake and a crack den.
When we see the real brothers Micky and Dicky during the end credits, we realize just how well each actor nailed his respective role, especially Bale pulling off a tough accent (though at this point, do you expect any less?). But maybe too well. This film was an exercise in contrast and restraint, compared to, for instance, Wahlberg's last sports-themed semi-biopic, Invincible. But when I saw that movie, I had the goosebumps when Vince Papale made the big plays, even though the acting might have been a little hammier and the love interest seemed completely contrived.
It was a really good story, and I never felt bored during the telling of it, but I at times felt like the story drifted too far from Micky, and, like I said, I never had that goosebumps moment that every sports movie should have.
In terms of the style, the editing was curious at points. I found myself shouting "show the game!" at the screen during some of the pivotal fight scenes, as I often do when ESPN lingers too long on a promotional graphic or celebrity in the crowd at the expense of in-game action. The shots taking place of the fighting almost seemed cribbed from Rocky, with frantic, kind of blurry crowd, announcer, and corner shots... but if they were supposed to be subjective, it wasn't obvious enough. I also disliked the withdrawal montage in the middle of the film, which really didn't fit the pretty conservative and understated style of the rest of it.
All told, I enjoyed the movie but probably wouldn't highly recommend it. Usually I like to watch a movie (and write something like this) without reading the reviews because I tend to be impressionable, but I kind of watched this one solely based on the hype surrounding it and thought it failed to measure up in some respects. The "true story" was intriguing, and I might just have to research and watch some tape on the real Micky Ward to see what I think.
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