The Fighter (David O. Russell, 2010)

Of all the simplistic movie formulas, I think the sports movie formula is the one I am most likely to fall for, regardless of the film's actual qualities. Somehow, the notions of competition and underdogs and come-from-behind victory resonates with me in a way no other formula I can think of really does. I'm not quite sure what this says about me (psychologically, I worry that it means I can relate to winning more than I can to, say, falling in love -- but I hope that's not the case).

So even though Christian Bale would rank highly among my least favorite working actors, I still went ahead and watched this out of a combination of curiousity at David O. Russell doing such a straightforward genre piece, and my aforementioned sucker-status for a well-crafted sports movie. Well, I wouldn't exactly say it disappointed. It's right there on the line, hovering, depending on how I feel at the given time I think about it, between something I'd tell people I enjoyed and something I'd tell people I almost enjoyed. Wahlberg's sisters are a particular low point, echoing the same women who exist only to be obnoxious and repressive in Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love. That Russell wants the audience to cheer when Amy Adams finally has enough and takes it to a couple of them is, uh, pretty icky, to say the least. I've never (well, not never, but at least since reaching cognitive adulthood -- i.e. a year or two ago) really liked the idea of the crowd-pleasing punch, when someone is being so odious and awful that the sympathetic, put-upon character unleashes some violence to the face and then we're supposed to find this cathartic?

But, to my surprise, I found Bale surprisingly tolerable. His scenery chewing Method Acting fits perfectly into the role of Wahlberg's narcissistic, attention-starved older brother. And Wahlberg brings his usual laconic tenderness, making him a plausible foil to the fast-talking, egomaniacal Bale. Melissa Leo and the sisters are the only real problem bogging this down from being a completely enjoyable entry into the canon of middling sports movies. But it's solid enough, and works the working class hero myth in a way that isn't completely obnoxious.