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Nick Szobody AB4 The Fighter: Movie Review

The Fighter has hit the floor running with the potential to become one of the greatest boxing movies along with that of //“Rocky”// and //“Million Dollar Baby.”// Based on the true story of Micky Ward, a down-on-his-luck boxer from Lowell, Massachusetts; the story has a deep emotional tendency that grabs the audiences’ hearts for the movies entirety. Micky can’t seem to win a fight, getting thrown to the dogs every single time. His brother, a crack-junkie who once went the distance with the likes of Sugar Ray Leonard, is not the greatest trainer due to his addiction; while Micky’s mother is the brains of the whole operation working as his manager. Micky’s fights in the beginning tended to involve him taking a beating from an opponent with twenty pounds on Micky. His family is very dysfunctional, with seven sisters that never let anyone get a word in and his crack-head brother who is just as bad; making Micky quiet and reserved even when it comes to his life and fighting career. The beginning fights are unfair and make Micky look like a stepping stone. Foreshadowing is deeply rooted in his previous fights compared to the fights later on that take him to the title. With the first fights Micky is pinned in the corner taking a beating; he is waiting for his money shot that will end the fight, but because he does nothing he doesn’t have the energy to get out of the corner. Reflecting to his real life, Micky is stuck in a corner with his family. As the cycle has been for years his mother and brother tell him what to do, even when he knows that it is wrong, and takes the consequences for their decision making. Only when he meets this girl does she show him that he needs to break the spell for himself. With her around he becomes more confident, and with his brother being sent to jail on multiple charges Micky has had enough; he gets a new corner man and begins training with the a new found confidence. With the new found confidence he gets out of life’s corner now throwing his money shot and breaking away to be progressive in his life. This breaking away action reflects in his fighting as he is not only winning, but completely dominating with the swagger so mean it may assault you. His brother cleaned up in prison and his return home is frowned upon by Micky’s trainer and girlfriend. With the realization from his brother that he personally needs to straighten up his life he finds that Micky’s new success is the perfect for a rope to climb back up. With the compromise and realization that Micky needs his clean brother to win he is renewed as his ring man and the title shot is on the way. With two working corner men and a love so deep from his girlfriend he attacks the title. When it appears that he is beaten he swings that money shot ending the opponents advance, and winning Micky the title. This movie is great and couldn’t have come out at a better time, when families are pinned against their own corner. It shows the resilience to come back when all looks bleak, and most of all that when there is a will, there is a way. I find that, not only is there room and graced hands for the genre of fighting movies, but that there is a openness that comes with everyone that watches these movies. If a person can honestly watch the movie and not find a way to describe a battle in their own life to that of the characters battles then something is seriously wrong. That’s what makes boxing, or any fighting movie for that matter, a great movie. It’s not about beating up another person; it’s about sacrificing everything, getting beaten down, and rising to the top. That’s what The Fighter does, raises you from a bleak bottom to the absolute top, showing the sacrifices given in between to get there. Everyone is fighter, there are always winners and losers, there probably isn’t a ring for most people, but there is always room for that one last punch to turn everything upside down.

Works Cited  Hornaday, Ann. "The Fighter." //The Washington Post//. The Washington Post, December 17, 2010. Web. 3 Feb 2011. [].

Travers, Peter. "The Fighter." //Rolling Stone//. Rolling Stone, December 9, 2010. Web. 3 Feb 2011. .

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