The Fighter

[TheDude]

Finally, I wondered about this as a preview screening in the UK. We are meant to cheer a US fighter on against a Brit???

I doubt that would bother the producers at all, it's only a sport. Besides if you watch the clip of the actual fight, the announcer refers to the two boxers as "two Irish warriors"...

http://www.vsizer.com/index.php?action= ... ison=92147

[Preston1990]

Saw this yesterday at the Metrocentre. Many thanks to Andrews for saving me a premier seat in the rather full screening. Nice to see a good turn-out from the NE FMUK contingent too.

Not a lot to add to what everyone else has already said, so I'll just add my score.

7.5 out of 10

[valda]

It was pretty full at Whitely's and I had a guy sitting next to me, eating apples! And even more annoying he kept on laughing really loudly and rocking the seat

Yeah that laughing hyena was a bit strange, wasn't he! I was a couple of rows behind and I kept thinking what was so funny about that...

I'm always scared that I insult someone in the audience on here, and find out it is a FMuKer Him and his friend were so annoying, they kept on whispering to each other then laughing. He seemed to laugh most at the ladies hair, and the erm, as the Mormons say 'The Plain Girl'

[LisaO]

Didn't expect to enjoy this but thought it was great... more about family dynamics than boxing... the mother was hilarious but lots of really poignant touches about dealing with & turning a blind eye to drugs.

No late comers, apple eaters, hyenas or chair rockers in my cinema.... praise be!!!

Lx

[Spanner]

In case like me, your interested has been piqued, here's the documentary they were making in the film....

http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/hi ... in_lowell/

I'm off to watch it now.

[baty]

Those sisters were extreem family members. G*d seen a few family members in my time but these were gruesome.

[tilly]

I wonder if they were the real sisters of the boxer? As not sure where they found them

[mattymc13]

It was a gazillion times better than the Rocky films in that it had some kind of realism about it. Boxing films often fail miserably when it comes to the actual boxing. Take the Rocky films as an example. There is no such thing as defence in the Rocky films. Rocky constantly has his hands down and is taking a right old battering, or his opponent has his hands down and he's taking a right old battering. It's such a crucial aspect which they rarely get right. They came a lot closer to realism in this but it still wasn't perfect. Now I realise I probably sound ridiculous, but it sort of makes a fool of the sport when they attempt to over-dramatise the action. But that's Hollywood for ya, I expect nothing more. Now, as for the film itself, it's really quite moving, it has both subtle and in your face humour running through its core, and Christian Bale puts in arguably the finest performance of his career. It's also a movie that's fairly true to the fact. It does however have a few key fights missing. The original title match with Vince Phillips, the fight with Zab Judah that went the distance (I'm a big boxing fan btw, I know my stuff!) These great moments in a great career are overlooked somewhat. But I don't mind this because deep down this film is more of a drama about overcoming the shit hand life deals you from time to time. And it is a total triumph in a dramatic sense. I really enjoyed it, and it's a four star film for me (****)

[jaybee]

I wonder if they were the real sisters of the boxer? As not sure where they found them

They are actresses rather than the real sisters. A couple of the extended Eklund family members did have parts as extras though. You can check it out on The Fighter imdb page

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0964517/fullcredits#cast

[hdaniel82]

Despite the recent slew of boxing films in the past few years, I really enjoyed this. Really shocking to see Christian Bale that thin, according to this article: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Christia ... 6745.shtml he had to lose one third of his bodyweight for the role But I think it might get him a best supporting Oscar nomination for sure. I also thought Mark Wahlberg did a good job, and his acting skills are improving.

Loved kk's comment about the sister's being "a wall of angry hair", SPOT ON! Horrible family, pure white trash, but we have plenty of that in the UK too!