9/50x2: The Fighter

I am a sports writer by trade, but there are a few sports out there that just don't really appeal to me. Some of those sports are those involving hand-to-hand combat. Boxing, MMA - heck even hockey - are just a few sports that I really have no desire in ever watching (except the occasional Pens game).

That being said. Why is it that boxing seems to almost always make a great movie?

The Fighter is based on a true story about Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and his rise in the boxing world. And, may be to an even bigger extent, his brother Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale).

Eklund is Ward's trainer and former boxer himself. His claim to fame is that he once knocked Sugar Ray Leonard to the mat during a televised match. Since then he has found himself getting addicted to drugs and spending time in jail.

Mickey is also being managed by his mother, Alice Ward (Melissa Leo), who despite Mickey's talent and being an all-around decent person, still treats brother Dicky like her favorite.

Dicky also happens to be filming a documentary on what he is claiming as his comeback attempt into the world of boxing.

Mickey values and loves his family, and that may have been what kept him as what some people claim as a punching bag for other fighters as they make their way up through the ranks. He is saddled with a manager/mother who seems content with keeping him nearby and not allowing him to flourish - and a trainer/brother who would much rather be getting high than spending time in the gym helping his brother get better.

Mickey, however, gets involved with Charlene (Amy Adams) who sees the greatness in him and what his downfall has been - his family. She encourages him to sign with a place in Las Vegas that will pay him as he trains. The lone stipulation is that Dicky must not be allowed to help him.

Just a great film filled with tons of amazing performances.

Bale continues to impress with the way he can transform his actual body image for a film, and then throw himself into that role. Leo has proven just how good of an actress she can be, and here is no different. Adams was amazing as the girlfriend who helps push Mickey in the right direction (and she wasn't too hard on the eyes either). All three were recognized for the effort with nominations for Academy Awards, with Bale and Leo both winning in the Best Supporting category.

The one who wasn't nominated was Wahlberg. I feel the guy gets a bum wrap for the most part - perhaps because he was once known as 'Marky Mark'. I don't know, but I thought his performance in this film was outstanding - and he continues to improve as an actor. His struggle between what he wanted and what he thought he wanted was amazingly portrayed. I felt he deserved some recognition as well.

You've all heard that The Fighter is a great movie - and I can tell you for a fact it was. Again, not a fan of boxing, but they sure do make great films. Check it out if you haven't yet.

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35/50: Frozen River

I have been wanting to see this film since it was announced. There are not too many films that choose the North Country to shoot in, but this was one of the rare ones.

Frozen River was not only shot in the Plattsburgh, NY area, but a lot of it was actually shot right across the street from my in-law's house. In fact, on a handful of occasions, you can even see their house - which is really cool.

Anyway, the fact that the film was shot in an area that I know extensively may have a bit of an effect on my opinion of the film, but either way I thought this film was amazing.

Well, Ray Eddy (Melissa Leo) is a parent of two children and works at the local Dollar Tree. She lives in a single-wide trailer and has been saving up her money for a new double-wide trailer. On the day of its delivery, her husband split and stole the money needed for the trailer.

As she goes out to look for him she comes across Lila Littlewolf (Misty Upham) who has apparently stolen her husband's car. The two of them sort of team up and begin making money bringing illegal aliens to the United States.

The location of the city is right near Canada and when the river (or lake) is frozen, they are able to drive their car across and avoid the border. Eddy plans on doing enough runs to remake the money she needs for her double-wide.

The main issue, besides avoiding getting caught by police, Eddy has left her children home alone and her eldest son, T.J. (Charlie McDermott) was left to take care of his brother. As this was also around Christmas, T.J. ended up stealing a ladies credit card information to sell to a friend of his and was able to by his brother a Christmas present.

I am not going to ruin the ending, but it was rather amazing and something I just did not expect to happen. The movie itself was just done so well and I loved it - it reminded me a lot of Winter's Bone even though this was made first.

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