Darkmatters Review: The Fighter

The Fighter (15)

Dir. David O. Russell

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

As the awesome Clubber Lang (Mr T) said in Rocky III “My prediction for the fight? Pain!”

Unlike Rocky III however The Fighter isn’t a showboating fight movie – this is a gutsy recreation of the true life gutter to contender story of Micky Ward whose stop start welterweight boxing career included some of the most memorable fights ever witnessed.

Mark Wahlberg steps into the respected fighters shoes / gloves and turns his usual slightly confused expression to good use as "Irish" Micky Ward – a boxer living in the fading shadow of his older brother Dicky (Christian Bale). Dicky is a crack head former big shot whose claim to fame is that he once floored Sugar Ray Leonard, although some say that Leonard just slipped. Whatever the truth Dicky has been riding on that one fight his whole life – wearing the title ‘pride of Lowell’ - the small town he and his brother hail from.

Bale is a hot tip for Oscar success for his supporting actor role and it’s easy to see why. He looks absolutely nothing like his Batman character – more like the painfully thin lead from a film he did some time ago called ‘The Machinist’. Bales’ Dicky is a twitchy, bug eyed, fidgety freak show – highly volatile and living his life by screwing-up beyond the call of duty. Melissa Leo is also on screen chewing form here as the boys batty mother / manager – an overbearing nightmare who favours her older son and secretly wants to see him regain some of his lost glory. Micky however she is happy to pimp out to fight organizers who just need a punch bag opponent for their upcoming fighters.

"Listen - your wooden acting is making me look great!!"

Director David ‘Three Kings’ O. Russell keeps the action tight and the family dynamics every bit as incendiary as any of the nicely shot boxing matches. Wahlberg does his best but is out acted by all around him – including slutty bartender love interest Charlene (Amy ‘Enchanted’ Adams, playing impressively against her goody goody previous roles).

There is plenty of dark humour to go with the brutal ring action like when a film crew who is following Dicky for an HBO documentary turns out not to be covering his big comeback but actually making a fly on the wall film about the horror of crack addiction.

The fighter is a great film, it has something for everyone – enough fight action to keep the Rocky / Raging Bull crowd happy but also sufficient out of the ring drama to stand as a fantastic piece of cinema. Recommended viewing.

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:


öööö

(4 - heavy hitting entertainment)...

Awesomeness öööö – goes the distance

Laughs ööö – you'll laugh but it's no comedy
Horror öö –  some brutal punching but nothing too strong
Babes ööö – Amy Adams goes for it
Spiritual Enlightenment ööö – love thy brother (even if he is a crack head)

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Second opinion - try The Telegraph

"Amy Adams - not as glam as this in The Fighter"

Darkmatters Review: Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go (12a)

Dir. Mark Romanek

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

"Are we human? Or are we dancer? My sign is vital, my hands are cold…”

Never Let Me Go is a powerful, haunting and life affecting story of true love, bitter jealousy and all that it means to be ‘human’.

Based on Kazuo Ishiguro's highly acclaimed novel, director Mark ‘One Hour Photo’ Romanek delivers a film that will slowly and carefully unpick your soul. Romanek is the guy who made one of my favourite ever films – the little known, low budget oddity ‘Static.’ With Never Let Me Go however he is at the helm of a full blooded big screen classic, enhanced by having a stellar cast in the form of Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Tommy (Andrew Garfield) and Ruth (Keira Knightley).

"through a glass darkly"

The story tells the tale of three seemingly normal friends growing up together, their lives connected by a heart breaking secret. We join them at their time at Hailsham – an oppressive boarding school cut off from the outside world. The teachers, led by the matriarchal Miss Emily (a great turn from Charlotte Rampling) keep their students fed a strictly limited diet of information, and engender a rule of fear created by awful tales of what happens to anyone who ventures further than the school gates.

If you’ve read the book you’ll know what is going on but if like me you come to Never Let Me Go without prior knowledge then you are in for a head spinning treat. I’m not going to explain what makes Kathy, Tommy and Ruth different from the rest of us, but there is a wonderfully sinister backdrop of this film, which comes to drive the main story with some fascinating science fiction elements.

"Ella Purnell does a good young Keira"

Don’t approach Never Let Me Go looking for a feel good experience. The screening I saw this at had several female audience members in tears by the time the end credits rolled. The story is certainly dark and tragic, yet also deeply thought-provoking and likely to leave you pondering what you’ve seen for some time to come.

The cinematography is gorgeous throughout, employing an otherworldly slightly washed out style which works really well in depicting the alternate 1980s England settings. The kids playing the younger versions of Keira Knightley (Ella Purnell), Carey Mulligan (Izzy Meikle-Small) and Andrew Garfield (Charlie Rowe) were excellent too and could well be ones to watch as future talent.

"the future may be bleak"

Screenwriter Alex ‘Dredd’ Garland does a good job in making the novel work on screen and Romanek shows just how good a director he is by handling the building unease masterfully and delivering an artistic treaty on the sadness of being or wanting to be human.

Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:

öööö

(4 - broken hearts and 'what ifs')...

Awesomeness ööö – powerful stuff

Laughs öö – limited laughs (in the dark)

Horror ööö – an effective growing sense of 'wrongness'

Babes ööö – Carey Mulligan outshines Keira Knightley

Spiritual Enlightenment ööö – love is human

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Second opinion - try reeltalk