MOVIEmeter
Top 500
Up 288 this week

The Fighter (I) (2010)

7.9
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 7.9/10 from 161,580 users   Metascore: 79/100
Reviews: 351 user | 384 critic | 41 from Metacritic.com

A look at the early years of boxer "Irish" Micky Ward and his brother who helped train him before going pro in the mid 1980s.

Director:

Writers:

(screenplay), (screenplay), 4 more credits »
Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 445 titles created 28 May 2011
 
a list of 964 titles created 10 Mar 2012
 
a list of 2369 titles created 4 months ago
 
a list of 703 titles created 03 May 2011
 
a list of 1141 titles created 28 Nov 2011
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: The Fighter (2010)

The Fighter (2010) on IMDb 7.9/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of The Fighter.
Won 2 Oscars. Another 42 wins & 55 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

The Wrestler (2008)
Drama | Romance | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

A faded professional wrestler must retire, but finds his quest for a new life outside the ring a dispiriting struggle.

Director: Darren Aronofsky
Stars: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X  

A determined woman works with a hardened boxing trainer to become a professional.

Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman
Biography | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

The true story of a newly appointed African-American coach and his high school team on their first season as a racially integrated unit.

Director: Boaz Yakin
Stars: Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Wood Harris
Coach Carter (2005)
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

Controversy surrounds high school basketball coach Ken Carter after he benches his entire team for breaking their academic contract with him.

Director: Thomas Carter
Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Rob Brown, Robert Ri'chard
Rocky Balboa (2006)
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

Rocky Balboa comes out of retirement to step into the ring for the last time and face the heavyweight champ Mason 'The Line' Dixon.

Director: Sylvester Stallone
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Burt Young, Antonio Tarver
Rocky II (1979)
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

Rocky struggles in family life after his bout with Apollo Creed, while the embarrassed champ insistently goads him to accept a challenge for a rematch.

Director: Sylvester Stallone
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young
Evil (2003)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

Erik is expelled from school for fighting. He ends up at a private boarding school where the senior students control the young ones. Erik finds a friend in Pierre, his room mate. The story ... See full summary »

Director: Mikael Håfström
Stars: Andreas Wilson, Henrik Lundström, Gustaf Skarsgård
Best Shot (1986)
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

A coach with a checkered past and a local drunk train a small town high school basketball team to become a top contender for the championship.

Director: David Anspaugh
Stars: Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Hopper
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.7/10 X  

Up-and-coming sports reporter rescues a homeless man ("Champ") only to discover that he is, in fact, a boxing legend believed to have passed away. What begins as an opportunity to resurrect Champ's story and escape the shadow of his father's success becomes a personal journey as the ambitious reporter reexamines his own life and his relationship with his family.

Director: Rod Lurie
Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Josh Hartnett, Kathryn Morris
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.7/10 X  

A behind the scenes look at the life and death struggles of modern day gladiators and those who lead them.

Director: Oliver Stone
Stars: Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid
Whip It (2009)
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

In Bodeen, Texas, an indie-rock loving misfit finds a way of dealing with her small-town misery after she discovers a roller derby league in nearby Austin.

Director: Drew Barrymore
Stars: Sarah Habel, Ellen Page, Kristen Wiig
Glory Road (2006)
Comedy | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

In 1966, Texas Western coach Don Haskins led the first all-black starting line-up for a college basketball team to the NCAA national championship.

Director: James Gartner
Stars: Josh Lucas, Derek Luke, Austin Nichols
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
...
...
Mickey O'Keefe ...
Mickey O'Keefe
...
...
...
Jill Quigg ...
...
Kate B. O'Brien ...
Phyllis 'Beaver' Eklund (as Kate O'Brien)
...
Frank Renzulli ...
Paul Campbell ...
Edit

Storyline

The Fighter is a drama about boxer "Irish" Micky Ward's unlikely road to the world light welterweight title. His Rocky-like rise was shepherded by half-brother Dicky, a boxer-turned-trainer on the verge of being KO'd by drugs and crime. Written by anonymous

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Every dream deserves a fighting chance.

Genres:

Biography | Drama | Sport

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language throughout, drug content, some violence and sexuality | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Official Sites:

| |  »

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

17 December 2010 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Fighter  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£2,118,140 (UK) (4 February 2011)

Gross:

$93,571,803 (USA) (25 March 2011)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

|

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Christian Bale got involved when Mark Wahlberg asked him to take part in the movie. Wahlberg happened to know Bale through their daughters studying in the same elementary school. See more »

Goofs

When the family is all gathered in the living room, there is a Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots sitting on the end table next to Micky Ward. Then it's gone when they cut back to him. Then it's back, then gone again. See more »

Quotes

Dickie Eklund: [in reference to Charlene saying that Sugar Ray Leonard slipped] Hey, Mick, you think I knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard?
Mickey Ward: You went ten rounds. One of the best to ever do it. He couldn't hurt you. You were my hero.
Dickie Eklund: I was. I was.
See more »

Crazy Credits

The real Micky Ward and Dicky Eklund are shown during the end credits. See more »

Connections

Referenced in The 84th Annual Academy Awards (2012) See more »

Soundtracks

"Strip My Mind"
Written by Anthony Kiedis, Flea, John Frusciante and Chad Smith
Performed by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
By Arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
Excellent cast focuses boxing drama on family dynamics not usual themes
27 December 2010 | by (IL, USA) – See all my reviews

When it comes to winning awards, boxing films seem to always be contenders; as such, the thought of watching "another boxing film" can be off-putting. But "The Fighter" hangs in and fends off those labels, earning every bit of its critical praise. That's because most of the fighting in this film takes place out of the ring; "Irish" Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) spars with the troublesome brother who trains him and his mother who manages him and these superb supporting characters have their own challengers to overcome.

David O. Russell brings a needed dose of realism to the boxing genre, downplaying the underdog nature of Micky's true story and focusing on the relationships that push him through and hold him back all throughout his journey toward the welterweight title. Much of the time, in fact, the story feels equally Micky's and his brother's. Dickie Eklund (Christian Bale), as beat over our heads early in the film, went ten rounds with Sugar Ray Leonard and knocked him down, becoming the pride of small working-class town Lowell, Mass. — which as one might imagine, wasn't hard.

But Dickie, an off-kilter, fun-loving yet irresponsible guy (a transformative performance from Bale to say the least), spends the time he's not training Micky in crack houses. In fact, he's completely oblivious to the fact that HBO is following him around for their documentary on crack abuse, not one about his "comeback." It's clear that his behavior is keeping Micky, whose had a string of bad losses of late, down. After an embarrassing fight in which Micky was mismatched, Micky suddenly finds himself wondering whether he should keep his boxing career and family separate.

The idea of it irritates Micky's mother Alice, played by Melissa Leo, who impressively embodies every controlling mother. Alice sits in her house most days and smokes cigarettes while her seven grown daughters pathetically vie for her attention. Leo keeps Alice from being an aggravating total monster, providing a more complete picture of a mother whose blurred the line between business and family.

Amy Adams also excels in her supporting role, a bartender and college dropout, but one who — like the audience — sees how Micky's family has kept him back and as his girlfriend pushes him toward the right path. Interestingly, as she grows more invested in Micky's career, the script divides her from the audience, which gives her performance more weight.

Russell's characters have a harsh reality to them, much like the Boston-based characters in Ben Affleck's films "Gone Baby Gone" and "The Town." In addition to looks, clothes and mannerisms, Russell chooses a more hand-held documentary feel for the film like Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler" and even opts to film parts of the boxing sequences with lenses like the ones used in the late '90s to give the feel of watching a live broadcast.

The fights, though effective, remain secondary to the other "fighting." Watching Dickie spiral downward and come back up again, Alice have trouble letting go and Micky struggle to speak up for himself and recognize what he truly needs serves as the more compelling conflict. All together, they give "The Fighter" the best ensemble cast of 2010. And like all great boxing films, all these tensions blow in and out make their way symbolically into the boxing ring for that final fight. As Dickie urges on his brother in the waning rounds of the championship fight, he captures it perfectly when he says "everything that's happened, take that out there with you."

The emotional moments of "The Fighter" do lack a real knockout and many intimate moments are tempered with humor in awkward but not scene-ruining ways, but rather than be a heavyweight drama that rides the underdog story for two hours, "The Fighter" opts to be something a bit more natural by fixing on the right things: the people and the personal relationships that hurt or harm us, are all essential to our success.

~Steven C

Visit my site at http://moviemusereviews.com


27 of 33 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Rank Christian Bale's performances. nikolas-28
imagine if brad pitt accepted the role of dickie theHRguySAYS
Questioning our intelligence? lempickagirl
He's got 20 pounds on me Pilatunes
How different would this movie be if Aronofsky did make it? rachel-christine-adams
The family inthebuff
Discuss The Fighter (2010) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?