David O. Russell's The Fighter is the type of movie you could enter at any point -- from the beginning, in the middle of the second act, near the end -- and, after five minutes, deduce what's already happened and what's about to happen next.
"But predictability is a necessary component of the sports-movie genre," you'll argue.
Tell that to Raging Bull, Martin Scorsese's groundbreaking boxing movie which Russell strives to emulate even though the screenplay he's been handed (credited to three writers) adheres too closely to the formulaic blueprint hammered out by Sylvester Stallone's Rocky nearly 35 years ago.
That begs the question: Did Rocky perfectly capture the downtrodden existences of professional pugilists, or do all boxers simply follow, in their personal and professional lives, the handbook Stallone created on screen? It's a chicken-or-the-egg debate, though there's no denying that every boxing picture since Rocky has lived in Stallone's shadow. Add Russell's Fighter to that list.
Based on the true story of junior welterweight Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), the film certainly has its fair share of clichéd tragedies. Most of Micky's obstacles to success can be found in his own corner, where he's forced to contend with his scatterbrained, crackhead older brother Dicky (Christian Bale) and their self-serving mom, Alice (Melissa Leo), who's more interested in the fight purse than in the size of Micky's next opponent.
Three things happen simultaneously that threaten to change Micky's life. He's given the opportunity to train with a better team in Las Vegas. He finds love and support in Charlene (Amy Adams), a hardened bartender who sees Micky as a possible ticket out of her dead-end life. And Dicky's arrested for impersonating a cop, sending him behind bars where he no longer can interfere with Micky's progress.
But are we supposed to laugh or cry at The Fighter? Should we stand up and cheer or stifle a guffaw?
Russell doesn't definitively lean one way or the other with his boxing biopic, so The Fighter falls somewhere between "cliched sports story" and "unfocused underdog redemption tale."
Tone is the picture's biggest issue, as Fighter struggles to find, and maintain, its direction. The outclassed-boxer formula supports most of the film, with Wahlberg floating through generic bouts on his way to a title match.
But outside of the ring, Russell opts to paint Micky's familial hardships with broad comical strokes. Watch the scene (two of them, actually) where Dicky escapes his favorite crackhouse by sneaking out a second-story window, only to land in a trash heap. Perhaps I've seen too many Looney Tunes episodes, but I half expected a "Splat!" sound effect to accompany the pratfall. Later in the film, there's a severely imbalanced scene where Micky's sisters -- themselves cartoonish caricatures of blue-collar "Bah-stan" white trash -- pile like clowns into a too-small car to confront Charlene. In the back of my mind, I could hear the familiar, jangly Keystone Kops music accompanying this garish mob. But as the scene plays out, it's suggested that Russell is serious about the material. You could have fooled me.
The performances don't help Russell refine his picture's mood. As Dicky, Bale wildly overplays the role, borrowing exaggerated physical movements and facial expressions from -- of all people -- Steve Martin and Jim Carrey. Freed from the morose internal underpinnings of Bruce Wayne and his masked alter ego, Bale shakes, bakes, and bugs his eyes like Roger Rabbit. On the flip side, Wahlberg underplays Micky, though that's what the part demands, as the boxer largely takes a back seat to the dominant personalities in his life.
Only Adams finds a middle ground between force and farce, showing a different side of her considerable range without sacrificing the motivations of her character. Whether playing a gritty Lowell bartender or a fairy tale princess released from a storybook, Adams remains believable. Her performance bolsters The Fighter, but it's not enough to recommend the film, which goes the distance but loses by decision.
