I have a surprising number of thoughts from The Fighter. That's unusual when I see a movie in the theater. It's harder to dissect things when you aren't taking notes.
The Fighter follows boxing brothers Dicky Eklund and Micky Ward. Eklund fought Sugar Ray in the late 70s but got caught up in crack. Now he's training his brother Micky, but also holding him back. Micky spends the movie trying to do right by his family and himself, but the desires of each party don't intersect the way Micky would like.
It's a strange movie because Dicky is a far more interesting character who could almost be his own movie. He's the Oscar movie story. Meanwhile, Micky is the more upbeat-Disney-underdog story. It really could have been two separate movies. It ends more upbeat than I expected, with Dicky and Micky achieving success.
Details that stood out:
-Bulk of the movie is set in the 90s, but for some reason every song playing in the background is from the mid-80s.
-You can't go wrong putting Amy Adams in her underwear.
-Final clip of the real Dicky Eklund is the most blatant attempt to get an Oscar I've ever seen. And it works perfectly.
-I'd still rather see True Grit girl win for Best Supporting Actress, but Leo is pretty darn good.
-When Dicky gets out of jail, for what I can only assume was longer than a year based on his charges, why did his son not age?
-Micky's sisters deserve an honorary Oscar, as a group. Incredible work.
-Maybe I need to watch more welterweight boxing, because the fight scenes are great. Never been a fan of boxing because the matches I've seen are rarely this entertaining or dramatic.
David O. Russell is a bit of an enigma. Supposedly he's an indie-type auteur, but Three Kings and The Fighter aren't really all that artistic. If you ask me, they're pretty popcorn-esque. Maybe if he completed more than one movie every 5 years it would be more obvious to other people.
First Viewing: 3+3+3+2+3 = 14