The 2010 boxing movie, The Fighter, on a superficial level follows the stereotypical sport movie plotline. The formula for such a movie goes as follows: The protagonist comes from a rough family and background, but has true talent. Because of this, no one, including himself, thinks he’ll be able to win whatever sport he’s playing. That is, of course, until he finds the inspiration and courage to confront his personal demons and play with all his heart. In the end, he proves everyone wrong and becomes the champion.

The Fighter has many similarities to this storyline. It is a true story about Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) who became the welter-weight champion in 2000.  The film begins with Micky being overshadowed by his older brother and boxing trainer Dicky (Christian Bale) who is the “Pride of Lowell.” Dicky was once a fighter whose biggest achievement was knocking down the famous Sugar Ray Leonard. Dicky, however, is now a crack addict and criminal. To keep it all in the family, Micky’s manager is his mother Alice (Melissa Leo). Alice is infatuated with her older son Dicky and is using Micky to relive the glory days she spent managing Dicky. Because of his unstable support, Micky is known as a stepping-stone for better boxers and never gets a good fight.

This is where Micky’s new girlfriend Charlene (Amy Adams) comes in.  She convinces Micky that he needs to take care of himself and shake off his family. Charlene’s advice convinces Micky to find a new manager and trainer who will bring him success in the ring. A feud begins between Charlene and Micky’s family (which include his seven hilariously disgusting big-haired and big-accented sisters). Micky struggle with the choice between his loyalties to his family and his girlfriend who supports his rising career as a boxer.

Let me just break in saying that I hate movies about boxing and the sport of boxing in general. If The Fighter were just another rehash of the classic sports movie, I wouldn’t have kept watching it very long. I don’t understand boxing, and in most movies, such as Annapolis and Million Dollar Baby, I simply tune out until the referee holds up one of the fighter’s hands. However, watching the last scene of The Fighter, I was literally gripping my chair’s armrests and reacting to every punch; I even think I yelled out loud at a particularly dramatic hit.

I think there are two reasons for the increased suspense in The Fighter. The first is the superb character development throughout the movie. The protagonist Micky Ward is not the one-dimensional hero out to fight the odds. He has flaws and even accepts his shadow position behind his crack-addicted brother in the beginning of the film. He is torn until the end about how much he should let his crooked family into his life. The complexity of the character brings a complexity to the fight. From the classic sports stereotype, “the hero always wins the last match,” the audience is left unsure if Micky is enough of a hero to win the fight, and therefore, the scene is full of suspense.

The second reason for the amazing fight scene is the cinematography. Instead of the quick shot close up of the punches one at a time, The Fighter’s last fight scene is shot as a mock HBO special fight. The camera is farther away from the boxers and the shots are much longer. The angle of the shot is no longer from the point of view of a fly buzzing around the fighter’s head, but it is in the view of someone watching the game from a bar or at home. The unique cinematography gives a much more realistic feel to the entire match.

The other reason for The Fighter to stand out among sports movies is the superb acting. As always, Mark Wahlberg plays a wonderful “nitty-gritty, rough around the edges” character. It was fun to see Amy Adams, on the other hand, move away from her standard role as the cute naive girl. She absoluetly shocked me the first time she appeared on screen with a belly shirt and a messy ponytail.

But the true stand-out actors of the film were the Academy Award winners Melissa Leo and Christian Bale. Their Oscars for Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor were, in my opinion, completely justified. Melissa Leo made her character, the loud, white-trash mother Alice, utterly enjoyable to despise. Leo made the character’s complex motivations between the love for her son and the love for a star boxer in the family very realistic and interesting.

After the movie, while the credits are rolling, there is a clip of the real Micky and Dicky. This is when you truly see how phenomenal Christian Bale’s acting is. His depiction of the crack-addicted but well-intentioned Dicky is absolutely spot on. He has every mannerism, speech pattern and look of Dicky perfected. His portrayal of Dicky, I believe, makes the entire movie.

The Fighter is not just your typical sports flick. Its character and plot development can hold its own against any other drama. It is of course a heart-warming inspirational movie, but it is also an exciting and interesting look into boxing and the life of Micky Ward. I give this movie five stars.