2011 Movie Reviews

Mini Review: The Fighter

Evan Crean

The Fighter Poster
The Fighter © 2010 Paramount Pictures

Although I had heard mixed reviews of the David O. Russell drama “The Fighter,” I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the film.

Even though the story centers around a boxer, part of what makes it interesting is that there is less focus on the actual matches themselves and more on the main character Mickey Ward’s (Mark Wahlberg) struggle to separate himself from the people trying to control his life: his mother (Melissa Leo), his brother (Christian Bale), and his girlfriend (Amy Adams).

What really gives the movie its strength is the complex performances of Christian Bale, Melissa Leo, and Amy Adams.  The other part of the knockout punch is the awesome music selection, which aside from the Red Hot Chili Peppers song “Strip My Mind,” is just spot on.  Probably the weakest acting in the film came from the star himself, Mark Wahlberg, who seemed mentally vacant throughout the story.  This unfortunately made his character pretty hard to root for.

My Grade: B+

Evan Crean

Hello! My name is Evan Crean. By day I work for a marketing agency, but by night, I’m a film critic based in Boston, MA. Since 2009, I have written hundreds of movie reviews and celebrity interviews for Starpulse.com. I have also contributed pieces to NewEnglandFilm.com and to The Independent, as a writer and editor. I maintain an active Letterboxd account too. In addition to publishing short form work, I am a co-author of the book Your ’80s Movie Guide to Better Living, which is available on CreateSpace and Amazon. The book is the first in a series of lighthearted self-help books for film fans, which distills advice from ’80s movies on how to tackle many of life’s challenges. On top of writing, I co-host and edit the weekly film podcast Spoilerpiece Theatre with two other Boston film critics. I’m a founding member and the current treasurer for the Boston Online Film Critics Association as well. This site, Reel Recon.com, is a one-stop-shop where you can find links to all of my past and present work. Have any questions or comments after checking it out? Please feel free to email me (Evan Crean) at: ecrean AT reelrecon DOT COM .