10 Things I Learned at the Movies: The Fighter

It is a week before Christmas and there are no Christmas movies out this year. Normally, there is at least one every year, but not this year. So, I decided to go and watch a movie about family, perseverance and hope: THE FIGHTER. Is Massachusetts the only place in America where you can do a movie about Irish people? The last five movies about Irish culture were based in towns in Massachusetts: Departed, The Town, Gone Baby Gone, Mystic River and now The Fighter.

“The Fighter” is about an Irish boxer from Lowell, Massachusetts named Mickey Ward. If you are not a boxing fanatic, you probably never heard of him until this movie. The movie has a stellar cast with Christian Bale (Batman: Dark Night), Amy Adams (Disney: Happily Ever After) and Mark Walhberg (The Other Guys). Another person who stands out in the movie is the person they cast as the mother, Melissa Leo (Frozen River).

Basic, the story is about the fall and raise of this Irish family in their personal lives, community and the boxing world. Some parts of the movie are slow and not as impactful as they could be, but all in all it is a good movie to go see. Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg) loves his family, especially his brother (Dickey Ward). The man who taught him everything he knows about boxing. His brother was a pretty good fighter until drugs took him out of the sport. Dickey even had the opportunity to fight Sugar Ray Leonard.

So, the hope of the Ward family to redeem itself in the boxing world and their hometown fell on Mickey. For over ten years, Mickey’s mother and crack addicted brother Dickey managed and trained him unsuccessfully. While having a camera crew from HBO following them around, Mickey’s mother and brother manipulate him into taking a fight he never he could not win for the sake of the money. Just when he decides to give up boxing he meets a woman (Amy Adams) that changes his life and career around.

Anybody who likes movies based on true stories, sports and dysfunctional families who overcome their adversity will enjoy this one.

10 Things I Learned at the Movies: The Fighter

1. If you going to do a film about Irish Americans, set the story in Massachusetts
2. Make sure you know how to hold your own in a fight if you are dating a guy with two or more sisters
3. They may not mean it, but family can tear you down while trying to build you up.
4. The love of a good, supportive woman will always keep you motivated to do better in life
5. Never take a first date to a foreign subtitled movie... if you want a second.
6. You are only as good as the team you surround yourself with
7. You gotta love those baby mama’s
8. There comes a time in a man’s life when he has to choose pleasing his momma or pleasing is woman.
9. Dude, never let a camera crew following you around.
10. NO JOKE: Drug addiction affects everyone that you love and who loves you.