Friday, December 10, 2010

The Contenders


Jeanette Catsoulis looks at 'The Fighter':

The real fight in The Fighter isn't between "Irish" Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and his boxing-ring opponents, but between Micky and his half-brother Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale). More accurately, it's between Wahlberg's and Bale's performances, and the tussle for the heart of the movie proves more evenly matched than you might think.

In one corner is Wahlberg's slow, steady burn as a talented pugilist...in the other is Bale's operatic embodiment of a broken hero sustained by drugs and memories.

But there's another battle going on as well...David O. Russell's shamelessly entertaining movie offers a fascinating glimpse at the tension between form and artistic temperament.

As usual, nicely cut by Catsoulis.





No comments:

Blog Archive