by Donald Lind

Created on: February 06, 2011

“Wahlberg and Bale land a gut shot for a TKO”

“The Fighter,” from David O. Russell, director of “Three Kings” and “I Heart Huckabees,” tells the remarkable story of boxer “Irish” Mickey Ward, a once struggling welterweight fighter who made an unlikely run to the world championship in the mid-1990s.  Like many a film about boxing, “The Fighter” certainly tells its story with flourishes similar to Rocky, but Russell also expertly weaves in some of the grittier, out-of-the-ring, uncomfortable bits that made Scorsese’s “Raging Bull” so memorable.

No doubt the sentiment of seeing Mark Wahlberg as the nice guy Mickey slug his way to the top is endearing, but it’s the beyond-the-fight story that is more compelling, and indeed the element that drives him to be a better fighter.  Unlike a film like “Raging Bull,” which would explore the fighter’s personal demons, Mickey Ward’s problems stem from his own family.

Mickey relies heavily on his family for support and training, but their closed off mentality  toward any outside help, combined with their seeming “me first” attitude and neglect of Mickey himself lead to Mickey taking wrong fights and looking like a total loser to the townspeople in his native Lowell, Mass., who look up to him.  Mickey’s first problem is his mother/manager Alice (Melissa Leo), who seems to be preoccupied more with her family’s glory as being a tribute to herself; she foolishly goads her son into accepting a fight with a much bigger opponent on short notice.  “He just got off the couch!” is the repeated mantra.  Famous last words.

Mickey’s weariness about his career and family get worse with his brother.

Christian Bale, in one of the most stunning and show-stealing demonstrations of method acting in a long time, completely grabs your attention as Mickey’s brother Dicky Ecklund.  Dicky’s claim to fame was managing to knock down Sugar Ray Leonard in their fight back in the day (even though whether that was actually a slip is always up for debate).  Since then, though, he has fallen hard into crack addiction, and manages to mess up his brother’s training and humiliate the family while HBO films what Dicky believes is a documentary on his comeback.

Unfortunately, Ducky’s behavior leads to predictable jail time, and that’s the

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