THE FIGHTER

Just watched THE FIGHTER (2010) on a rainy Saturday afternoon and was quite pleased with the outcome.  David O. Russell directed and did a nice job of telling the story of Micky Ward, played by Mark Wahlberg, and his battle with boxing, his family and his eventual title match for world light welterweight.  I have always wanted to like Wahlberg but usually don't.  However in this film I believe he was the character he was playing.  Supported by his brother, played by an amazing Christian Bale, Wahlberg rose to the occasion.  Bale won an Academy Award for his "crack-head" yet knowledgeable boxing performance and I am stunned that he has not been nominated in the past.  Amy Adams puts a very nice gritty performance together as the girlfriend rocking the family boat and Melissa Leo, as the matriarch, fights to keep her family together well enough to also take home an Academy Award.