The Fighter (2010)

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Movie
German title The Fighter
Original title The Fighter
The Fighter (2010) Logo.tif
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2010
length 115 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
JMK 12
Rod
Director David O. Russell
script Scott Silver ,
Paul Tamasy ,
Eric Johnson ,
Keith Dorrington
production Dorothy Aufiero ,
David Hoberman ,
Ryan Kavanaugh ,
Todd Lieberman ,
Paul Tamasy ,
Mark Wahlberg
music Michael Brook
camera Hoyte van Hoytema
cut Pamela Martin
occupation

The Fighter is an American biographical sports - drama from the year 2010 , which is based on the life of former boxing world champion Micky Ward is based. The film won two awards in the categories of best supporting actress and best supporting actor at the 2011 Academy Awards .

action

Micky Ward is a rather unsuccessful Irish-American boxer from Lowell, Massachusetts . He comes from the working class and there it means "tackle". So he concentrates on the sport and spends every free minute in the boxing ring. He is supported by his mother Alice, who manages him, and his older half-brother Dicky Eklund, who trains him. Dicky, who was once a boxer himself and landed a knock down during a live match against Sugar Ray Leonard broadcast on HBO , rose to local notoriety under the nickname The Pride of Lowell (English for The Pride of Lowell ). However, he has problems with drugs. However, this does not prevent him and his mother from repeatedly holding onto Micky and bragging about how famous Dicky once was in the 1980s. Dicky crack - and cocaine - addiction is then like to conceal. Meanwhile, HBO is filming a documentary about Dicky's former fame, although the focus here is on his dependence.

During an upcoming bout in Atlantic City, New Jersey , it turns out that his original opponent is sick and his replacement is 18 pounds heavier, which should actually make him fight in a higher weight class. But Dicky and Alice don't want to lose the fee, which is why they try to convince Micky to compete against him despite Mickey's reservations. However, due to the physical superiority of the opponent, the fight results in a painful defeat. Tortured by this defeat and frustrated because of his career and the constant reproaches from his family, Micky withdraws. Before the fight, he met young Charlene in a bar, who once played sports in college and is now a bartender . Both get closer and spend time together.

After a few weeks, his mother Alice arranges a new fight for her son. But he still doubts his ability and his chances of winning. Because of these serious concerns, Alice and her family blame Charlene for this lack of motivation. Meanwhile, Mickey receives an offer for paid training from Las Vegas . When he tells Dicky about it, Dicky declines on the grounds that he could not train and live with the family like this. In order to get money, Dicky tries to offer his girlfriend as a prostitute , while as a fake policeman he wants to confiscate the car of possible suitors . The plan fails because the real police catch them doing it. After a chase and a subsequent fight against the state power, Micky tries to interfere during the arrest and prevent the police from beating Dicky. During the fight, he was grabbed by police officers, pressed against a car, and a police officer hit his right hand several times with a baton. Both Micky and Dicky are arrested. While the former is released, the latter is sentenced to prison. Micky blames Dicky for the trouble he caused. It takes a long time and it takes Mickey a lot to overcome until the broken hand is able to fight again.

It's 1995 and Dicky is still in jail. Not least in view of the documentary High on Crack Street: Lost Lives in Lowell that was shot about him , he has to reflect on what has become of his life. He is appalled at how his drug addiction has changed him and tries to get his life under control in prison. He starts boxing again, just like Mickey. This time Mickey is cared for by his father, who believes that both his mother and half-brother were a bad influence on him. He gathers a new training team around his son and makes contact with a new manager, who only agrees to do so if Micky does not allow Alice and Dicky to interfere in his boxing business again. They arrange a build-up fight so that Mickey can regain some self-confidence. He is even given the prospect of a bigger fight against a previously undefeated boxer. When he told Dicky this during one of his prison visits, Dicky immediately tried to give him tips for the fight. But Micky doesn't trust him, he still believes that Dicky is a selfish egoist who clings to his old career. During the fight, Micky is overwhelmed from the start. However, he remembers the advice of his brother and changes his strategy, whereby he not only wins the fight, but even the title fight, which was actually more for his opponent.

When Dicky is released from prison, his mother picks him up and they both visit Micky. Believing that he could still train him, he was hit by a blow when Micky told him that, according to the agreement, he was only allowed to work with his current team. In a subsequent argument, both sides of the family accuse Micky of the current situation. His trainer and Charlene leave him disgusted, while Dicky flees, possibly to experience another intoxication . Alice also tries to convince Micky to feel guilty, but he blames his mother for behaving better towards Dicky than towards himself. He is on his way to his old crack past to say goodbye to her. He then turns to Charlene and convinces her that Micky needs his entire family to be able to box properly. So you would have to cooperate. He succeeds in bringing everyone together and flying to London for the title fight together . From this Micky emerges as the winner.

The film then jumps forward a few years. Dicky tells that Micky alone had his fate and thus success in hand.

Soundtrack

All tracks on the soundtrack were composed and recorded by the Canadian musician and guitarist Michael Brook . Among other things, he was responsible for the soundtrack of films such as Into the Wild or Maybe Better Tomorrow .

No. title length
1. On the couch 1:13
2. First kiss 1:12
3. Not going to help 1:01
4th Hand beating 1:11
5. Jail 1:45
6th Detox 0:55
7th He slipped 1:55
8th. It's my life 2:23
9. Ladies Day Out 1:09
10. Ward vs. Sanchez 2:05
11. Dickie Released 1:56
12. Mickey Fires Dickie 1:16
13. Cakewalk 2:01
14th Ward vs. Neary 5:10
15th Close Credit Alt. (Bonus version) 1:06

Reviews

The film received positive to outstanding reviews. The Rotten Tomatoes website counted 204 positive reviews of 225 professional reviews, which corresponds to a value of 91%. Also received by the general public with very positive reactions, because at the same time 88% of 99,360 users rated the film positively. This in turn is confirmed by the online film archive IMDb , another platform on which normal users can rate films, because around 180,000 users there gave the film 7.9 out of a possible 10 points. (As of October 26, 2013)

“Above all, the film sheds light on the boxer's origins from a proletarian milieu and the difficult relationship with his family as the motivation for fighting ambition. Thanks to the convincingly reticent acting main actor, an impressive portrait that tries to be realistic with an agile hand-held camera and authentic locations. The female figures are however overdrawn. "

- Lexicon of international film

"The best sports movie of the decade - and one of the best since Martin Scorsese backlit Robert De Niro's Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull 30 years ago."

"The best sports film of the decade - and one of the best since Martin Scorsese directed Robert De Niros Jake LaMotta in How a Wild Bull 30 years earlier."

- And New Champion… - sportsillustrated.cnn.com (December 21, 2010)

“In addition to the lively description of the milieu, the boxing scenes are also captivating - precisely because Russell manages without pathos and exaggeration. He had some of them captured by a TV camera team. The fights get their emotionality solely from the inherent drama. "

- Critic.de

publication

After the film opened in the United States on December 10, 2010, it opened in Germany on April 7, 2011.

The film grossed $ 129 million worldwide on a budget of $ 25 million, including $ 93 million in the United States. In Germany it had 116,402 moviegoers so far. (As of October 20, 2011)

Awards

Oscar 2011

Golden Globe Awards 2011

British Academy Film Awards 2011

Screen Actors Guild Awards 2011

  • Nomination in the Best Acting Ensemble category for Christian Bale, Jack McGee, Melissa Leo, Amy Adams and Mark Wahlberg
  • Award in the Best Supporting Actor category for Christian Bale
  • Award in the Best Supporting Actress category for Melissa Leo
  • Nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Amy Adams

Writers Guild of America Award 2011

  • Nomination for Best Original Screenplay for Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson and Keith Dorrington

Satellite Awards 2010

  • Award in the Best Supporting Actor category for Christian Bale
  • Nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Amy Adams

MTV Movie Awards 2011

  • Nomination in the category Best Fight (Charlene vs. the Ward / Eklund Sisters)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for The Fighter . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , April 2011 (PDF; test number: 126 692 K).
  2. ↑ Age rating for The Fighter . Youth Media Commission .
  3. ^ The Fighter (2010). rottentomatoes.com, accessed October 20, 2011 .
  4. ↑ The Fighter on boxofficemojo.com , accessed October 20, 2011.
  5. ↑ TOP 100 DEUTSCHLAND 2011 on insidekino.de , accessed on October 20, 2011.