Thighs Wide Shut

The Fighter
A Champ In The Land of Chumps
Official Website | Trailers & Mo

Boxing movies have reached a point of predictability.  They are all about underdogs rising to the challenge, and either they stay on top or fall, really hard (well, all boxers eventually fall, don’t they?).  There’s Rocky and Raging Bull and then there’s everything else.  David O. Russell‘s take on real life brother boxers Micky Ward and Dickie Eklund is somewhere in between the two, with Micky ultimately becoming a contender, a somebody, while his brother falls from grace and becames a great pretender, and horribly a crack addict (watch this HBO doc on crack featuring him!).  And yet for all his deadly vices and unpredictability, Micky needed Dickie in order to become a king of the ring.  Brothers in arms!!  And in fists!!!

Mark Wahlberg fits into Micky’s glove like a… glove.  The role comes naturally to him, but doesn’t eggzactly show any great reach in this tale of the tape.  Christian Bale has the harder and juicer task playing deadbeat Dickie, and while in full Machinist gaunt mode, Bale’s brilliant performance keeps this pedestrian Beantown throwdown from going down for the count.  For a majority of the ride you’ll want to punch Dickie/Bale in the face, and by the end, you’ll want to hug him more than we wanted to hug the movie The King’s Speech.  But the brothers aint alone in all of this.  They have an over reaching family, with bossy matriarch Melissa Leo (to learn more about her, click here) ruling the roost and her SEVEN daughters (more about 2 of em below), a pushover papa (Jack McGee), and in this corner, a loving trainer (Mickey O’Keefe, in a mini-Ditka stache look).  Throw in a sexualized Amy Adams (we never wanted to see her like that, but boy, the girl’s got curves!) as Micky’s tough love interest and family divider, and you’ve got a lot of fight in The Fighter!  It’s a winner, not by a knock out, but by decision based on this judge’s scorecard!

Sister Act: Micky & Dickie”s sisters put on quite a show, and quite a lot of hairspray.  one of them is played by Conan’s sister!!  but there was one sister in particular that was driving our brain into overdrive.  we was like, who IS that, and how do we know her?  well, her is Jenna Lamia and she played popular Poppy Downes in the very first episode of Strangers With Candy!!!!!

watch!

Verdictgo: mos def Jeepers Worth A Peepers

Fighter fights the good fight this Friday only in NY/LA AND the boys’ hometown of Lowell, Mass!!!

and until next thyme the balcony is clothed…