The Fighter (2010)

Title: The Fighter (2010)

Director: David O. Russell

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams

Review:

Movies about boxing always work because they serve as a metaphor for life. You know how sometimes you feel like putting on some boxing gloves and punching life right in the face and knocking it the hell out? That’s what boxing movie do for ya. They make you feel like a winner. Its why films like the Rocky franchise have survived for as long as they have, the struggle of life translates well to these films and you feel like that boxer up there, giving it your best to beat life. Ever been in a theater during one of these films? There’s a reason why people holler at the screen during these boxing movies: they feel they are right up there with the main character, trying to beat life and come out victorious.

The thing about boxing movies is that in order to make a good one, you can’t really focus so much on the fights themselves, because if you do, you risk falling into repetition because so many movies that have come before have already explored that formula ad nauseum. Films like Gladiator (1992), all the six Rocky movies, The Boxer (1997) The Hurricane (1999), Cinderella Man (2005), Girlfight (2000), Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Raging Bull (1980), have all been there and done that. Boxing movies can sometimes go the same way most sports movies go: the boxer starts out not boxing very well, he looses a fight, then he gets better, and finally in the end he wins. If you do that with your boxing movie, you’re walking on tired ground. We’ve seen that already. And this is the very same reason why I hate sports movies in general, they are all the same. The team isn’t too good in the beginning, they confront whatever personal situation is not letting them move forward with the game, then they practice, then they get good and finally they win.

The trick to a good boxing movie is to focus more on the story behind the boxer. Who he is as a person, and go deep into his personal struggles. And I’m happy to say that this is exactly what The Fighter did. The film itself doesn’t really focus on the fights; it focuses more on the fighter, and his life. In this case, it’s the life of two real life boxers: Micky Ward (played by Mark Wahlberg) and Dicky Eklund (played by Christian Bale). Micky is trying to make it as a boxer, unfortunately he is considered a “stepping stone”; a fighter that is used to help other fighters rise to the top. But he is trying to get past that. He really wants to make it big. Unfortunately he is managed by his mother who only cares about taking small fights and making little bits of money with each one. What Micky wants is to make it big. Another thing that brings Micky down is that he is trained by his brother, who is a crack addict. Micky needs to cut ties with his family is he is ever going to make it. Will he ever muster the strength to leave them all behind?

The Fighter is predictable yes, you’ve seen one boxing movie, you’ve seen them all. And yeah, at first he sucks, then he gets better, then he wins. But what’s great about this movie is that it didn’t make a big deal about the fights themselves. The first few fights are quick moments in the film, they aren’t these long drawn out affairs filmed in slow motion or anything. They save the biggest fight for the end, but the rest of the film isn’t about the fights themselves, which a lot of boxing movies do a lot. Instead the film focuses on the two brothers and their struggles with trying to make it out of poverty. They are part of a huge family, they have something like 5 sisters, plus the two brothers. And the sisters always got something to say, though they don’t do much themselves. Micky’s family is the best example of trailer thrash there is. None of them have any education. It seems as if all they do is hang around the house all day gossiping, smoking cigarettes and watching television. But when it comes down to an opinion about something, they are all hive minded and think the same, especially when it comes to Micky’s new girlfriend whom they don’t like at all. They think she’s an “MTV girl” whatever that means. So Micky is trying to make it, but you get the feeling that his family is holding him back. They live under that hive mentality where the family thinks that no one can ever leave them to go and search for something better. Still, theres always that struggle. And yeah, its true, blood is thicker then water. And that’s really what the film focuses on, that struggle between pleasing yourself and following your dreams, and disconnecting, yet not forgetting about family.

The best thing the film has going for it is Christian Bale’s performance. If you’ve been keeping track with Christian Bale’s career, then you know the man is a freaking chameleon. He can transform from one role to the next like no other actor can, and personally, I think it’s about time the guy won an Oscar. Ever seen how thin he got for his role in Brad Anderson’s The Machinist (2004)? The guy was playing a sleep deprived individual, and to best portray this character he lost 63 pounds! Then he buffed up for Batman Beings (2005) and looked better then ever. He did the weight loss thing again when he played a U.S. fighter pilot who gets shot down and tries to survive in the jungles of Lao during the Vietnam war in Werner Herzog’s Rescue Dawn (2006). On The Fighter he went through the weight loss thing yet again to portray a crack addict. Gotta hand it to Bale, the weight loss thing really gets the trick done. But its not just about how thin he looks, his performance is really what sells the character to us. He really talks and acts like a crack addict! His character is responsible for some of the more funny moments in the film as well. As I write this, Oscar Night 2011 hasn’t happened yet, but Bale is nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category, and if you ask me, I believe he deserves that Oscar.

He isn’t the only one winning awards for his performance on this film. Melissa Leo who plays Micky and Dicky’s mother, won a Golden Globe, A Screen Actors Guild Award and a Broadcast Film Critics award. And Bale won all those awards right there with her. Both are nominated again for The Oscars. Mark Wahlberg hasn’t won any awards, and he wasn’t nominated for an Oscar, even though he is the central character of the film. I agree with that though. The real stars of the show are Bale and Leo, they offer up the strongest performances. Its not that Wahlberg did a terrible job, it’s just that Bale and Leo outshine him performance wise that’s all. So we got a film filled with great performances, backed up by the fact that it’s all based on real life events. Director David O. Russell (I Heart Hucakbees and Three Kings) choreographed all the fights according to the footage that was caught by the cameras of HBO sports when they really happened. He even filmed the fighting sequences with the same cameras the HBO crew used back in those days; it gives the fighting sequences that look that television used to have before the High Definition days. Makes it all the more genuine.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Rescue Dawn (2007)

Title: Rescue Dawn (2007)

Director: Werner Herzog

Review:

Werner Herzog’s style of filmmaking is a very interesting one. He doesn’t seem to believe in relying on special effects to transport us anywhere. If he wants his film to take place in the middle of the Amazon Jungle, he’ll take his cast and crew and film the movie in the freaking Amazon. For real. He did it in Fitzcarraldo. He did it yet again in Aguirre: The Wrath of God. Hell, Cobra Verde took place in Africa, and guess where he shot that one? That’s right; the guy went to Africa and shot the film with hundreds of African extras. They guy is a very committed filmmaker and the results are often times incredibly rewarding. He transports us to places that no special effect can. This is one of the main reasons I hold Herzog in such high regard. I often ask myself why so many filmmakers rely so heavily in fake sets and computer animation nature holds the best sets in the world. And they are for free! Herzog knows this and uses it to his advantage in his films.

This film, Rescue Dawn, is based on the real life exploits of Deiter Dengler, a U.S Navy Pilot who crashed landed in the middle of the Vietnamese jungle during the Vietnam war. He tries to escape but is taken prisoner by some Vietnamese soldiers and taken to a prison camp where other soldiers and pilots are being held prisoners as well. Together they try to survive the physical and psychological torture that they get subjected by the Vietnamese soldiers.

Deiter Dengler and Werner Herzog had known each other for years before this film came along. In 1997 Herzog made a documentary based on Denglers true life story called Little Dieter Needs to Fly, which I haven’t seen yet, but will definitely be checking out now that I’ve seen Rescue Dawn.

One thing that surprised me about this film was that Herzog actually used digital effects on this film. Its something he had never before recurred to in any of his films, not even in films you would expect him to use them in like for example Nosferatu: Symphony of the Night. But I guess the cgi effects were justified: the planes that were needed for the scene no longer existed, so he had to orchestrate the whole crash sequence with the aid of CGI. Another thing was that he shot the film in Thailand, when the story really took place in Vietnam. Also understandable since I doubt the Vietnamese would let him film there, considering the film portrays them as heartless savages using torture techniques on their prisoners of war.

A film like this relies heavily on its performances, and having Christian Bale on its cast didn’t hurt the film at all. As always, Bale dives entirely into character becoming completely unrecognizable. I’m always amazed at how Bale can do this, but all of his performances are different. Every character he has played is unique somehow. He did it again with this film. Deiter Dangler is an inventive guy, a survivor, and a guy who keeps his spirits up no matter how deep “in the shit” he is. I loved his character. Steve Zahn also outdoes himself in this, one of his few dramatic performances. Normally, Zahn is in comedy films, but here he dives deep into a dramatic role. Both actors went through heavy weight loss to effectively portray these prisoners of war. Bale lost 55 pounds! Steve Zahn lost 40! Jeremy Davies lost 33! And Werner Herzog, not wanting to be left out and as an act of solidarity lost 30 pounds himself!

I have to admire these two guys, they really got into it. There’s scenes where the two characters are aimlessly wondering through the jungle, and you just know they are really in there amongst all those insects, snakes, plants…a deadly environment, and they really went into it. Bale and Zahn really did swim through a snake infested jungle! Herzog just loves making his actors really live through an experience, this often times turns in a real reactions from the actors and in turn, this gives us the audience a more credible and genuine performance. This was the case in this film as well! Bale and Zahn have to make their way through a thick jungle, get drenched in the monsoon. They even get leaches stuck on them! I do not doubt that these were real! Sucking the blood out of these actors! There’s a scene where the prisoners have to eat worms to survive, and Bale really dove into that opportunity, going down in cinematic history with other actors who have eaten worms and roaches, like Nicholas Cage in Vampire's Kiss, where Cage ate a cockroach on camera. Bale really gorged on those worms Ill tell you that. We all know how Bale can just dive into a character. Some of you might remember how he underwent heavy weight loss for The Machinist. His weight loss for that film was actually kind of scary, at times looking like a walking skeleton. I’m sure Herzog recognized this trait in Bale. I’m thinking Herzog saw in Christian Bale the kind of actor that goes all the way with his performances, doing whatever has to be done to make his performance that much more believable. And I’m sure that’s why he ended up doing this film.

So this is one of those movies where the human spirit triumphs over incredibly difficult situations, where the only thing that kept Dieter Dengler alive was his hope and his will to survive. It reminded me a bit of Frank Marshall’s Alive! (1993) which is also an incredible true life story of survival under circumstances where you think the characters will not be surviving. Yet they do. An inspiring film, that speaks of the horrors of war. It makes you think about how absurd it all is, were all humans after all, living on the same planet, flying on this big blue spaceship we call earth. Why can’t we all just get along?

Rating: 5 out of 5

Harsh Times (2006)

Title: Harshtimes (2006)



Director: David Ayer



Review:


With the recent success of his two Batman films, Christian Bale is now more popular then ever. Forget all that gossip about him screaming his head off on the set of Terminator Salvation, no matter what, there is no denying that the guy is at the top of his game. Thing is, for me, he always was at the top of his game. In my book the guy has always been one of the best actors of his generation. Christian Bale proved he was great from his very first theatrical performance in Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun. In that movie Bale was only 12 years old, playing the role of a wealthy english kid trying to survive in a Shanghai Japan during the last days of the second world war, when the Japanese kicked the English out of Shanghai. The range of emotions that Bale had to convey at such a young age, and his success in effectively transmiting those emotions through his performance showed everyone that this kid was going to be something special. Empire of the Sun started for Christian Bale what was going to become an incredible acting career. I mean, have you guys seen American Psycho? The Machinist? These films are proof that the guy simply inmmerses himself in a character and becomes somebody else entirely. He's like a chameleon. Weird thing is that its on his lesser known films in which he truly shines. Not on his Batman movies, not on films like Reign of Fire or Terminator Salvation (to mention some of his more commercial films) but its in those roles in smaller films where he shows his true colors as an actor. Case in point: Harsh Times.

On Harsh Times Bale plays Jim, a war veteran who has been honorably discharged. He ends up going to Mexico and falling in love with this extremely humble Mexican girl named Marta. He wants nothing more then to marry her, become a cop in the LAPD and bring Marta over so she can live with him in L.A. Problem is, he gets rejected by the LAPD because he is such a fuck up. He smokes dope, and basically, he is kind of on the edge all the time, like a ticking bomb about to go off. He doesnt pass the psychiatric examination, so he gets rejected. This gets him even crazier. He releases his frustrations by getting "fucked up" smoking weed, getting drunk, stealing and worse. He is in the same type of jam with his best friend and co conspirator Mike. They both need a job, they both need to get their lives together. Will they ever find a job and stop wasting their lives away?

So I dont know why I never watched this movie. To me,  Harsh Times was one of those movies I wouldnt normally watch. I dont love films about Chicanos living in the hood killing each other, which to me was what this movie was going to be about. Guys going down the dark path, making all the wrong choices. And it was. The two main characters in Harsh Times, Mike and Jim, are both trying to fit in with the rest of society, and when they cant, their frustration gets released in all the wrong ways. This kind of movie can go down a cliched "been there done that" path which I dont like. But to my surprise this movie was so much more rewarding then that. A lot had to do with the excellent script written by David Ayer. Who's this David Ayer guy you might ask? Well, he is the guy responsible for writing Training Day, a film I hold in extremely high regard and a film which I strongly urge anyone out there to see, if you havent already.

So yeah, this film has many strengths. The script feels genuine, it feels like something like this could actually happen.  Ayer says he based this movie on his real life experiences while living in South Central, and it shows on the script. The dialog feels real, same with the situations these two guys get themselves in. The other good thing the film has for it is Christian Bales performance. The guy transforms himself yet again into an american psycho, not the one we saw in Mary Harrons excellent film, but an entirely different kind of american psycho. On this one he is a veteran dealing with the horrors of war. The images of real life death and mayhem he experienced while serving his country. In his exterior, and to everyone else, he gives the appearance of being an up standing responsible citizen, when in reality the guy is the most immoral unhinged individual you could ever wish to know. You see Jim suffers from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. What that means is that his a war veteran who has lost it, war and death is in his head and he cant live a normal life anymore. Its what happens when our great goverment trains somebody to become a killing machine, after all that death and all that chaos, they just cant be the same ever again. In layman terms: he's fucked for life.

Bale's performance as the war torn Jim reminds me of a similar performance. That of Harvey Keitel in Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant. In the Bad Lieutenant Keitel plays a police officer who is the worst kind of human being. No moral values, no remorse, no kindness or goodness in his heart. He simply sinks lower and lower in madness with every passing moment of film. He goes from one bad situation to a worse one. Bale's insane Jim is like that, you keep wondering if this guy can be more on the edge then he already is. Could he mess things up even worse? Problem is he is taking his best friend Mike with him. Mike, played by the Chicago born Puerto Rican actor Freddy Rodriguez is trying to get a job so he can live a normal life with his wife Eva Langoria. Cant say I blame him. And he is about to achieve it, but not before Jim pulls him into madness. Basically, Mike is very unfortunate to have gotten so close to a guy like Jim. Jim returned from war a changed man, and now Mike is stuck with a psycho for a bestfriend. Will his loyalty to his friend win over in the end? Or will he choose a normal life with his wife? The film also plays with themes of "are we men or are we mice? Do we do what we want, or do we do what our woman tells us to do?" Eva Langoria plays the feminine voice of reason to which Mike should to listen to. In the film she plays a minor yet vital role. The balance in Mikes life, the call to normality, decency and love. Will Mike hear it? Rodriguez also shows his acting chops on this one, though in my opinion, in some of the more intense moments, he kind of misses the mark. Still, he does an excellent job for the most part.

All in all, a very intense film. Shows a guy who is torn by memories of war. One of Christian Bales best performances, and he gets to stretch his acting muscles within the confines of David Ayer's excellent script. Highly recommend it!


Rating: 5 out of 5