There is no more cliche-ridden style of movie than those about boxing and boxers. From John Garfield in the ’30s to Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro and Mark Wahlberg, with dozens of others through the decades, the pattern of the stories is pretty much alike.
It’s what happens out of the ring and between the bouts that distinguishes them, and “The Fighter,” which opens here today, is an excellent film, not because of Wahlberg’s bloody bouts as “Irish” Micky Ward, but because of his family, the weirdest, most dysfunctional group one can imagine. Even weirder than the Gosselins, if you can envision that.
For the rest of the review, go to this link.
