The Fighter - 3 1/2 smiles

Although “The Fighter” is about a real-life boxer, “Irish” Micky Ward, it’s more about family and the familial ties that can become shackles. Micky’s family is brutally destructive and he must gain the strength to do what is best for him by breaking away. Mark Wahlberg, who had long championed a feature film about Ward and his brother, is deeply affecting as Micky, who is initially passive and a punching bag for other fighters working their way up to title bouts. The flamboyant role belongs to Christian Bale as Dicky Eklund, Micky’s half-brother, a once promising boxer who went the distance with Sugar Ray Leonard and is now a wild-eyed, hyperactive crack addict. His continued presence as Micky’s trainer does more harm than good as the fights he arranges lead Micky from one seedy bout to another. According to the family matriarch and business manager, Alice (a formidable Melissa Leo) Dicky knows what’s best for his brother. But Alice and Dicky didn’t bargain on Micky’s new girlfriend, Charlene, a college dropout who’s tending bar in a local tavern. Amy Adams, who plays Charlene as tough, tender, smart and funny, demonstrates remarkable range. (Remember her in “Enchanted”?)

Bale is amazing as the charismatic Dicky, who cruises along on past glory and the warm glow of family love. At the beginning of the movie, Dicky believes a documentary is being made about his preparations for a come-back, but in reality, it’s about the heavy toll crack takes on its users. Wahlberg has the less showy role, but he’s excellent as the decent son who can’t compete for the affections of his manipulative mother. Director David O. Russell handles both the boxing scenes and the family drama well and we can’t blame him too much if the underdog-makes-good cliché haunts the narrative. See “The Fighter” for Bale’s knockout performance. 12/13/10