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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The Lovely Bones

Let me first start out by saying I have never read the book, nor did I know anything about the book (or movie) going into my viewing of the film.

I have heard grumblings of true fans of the book that the movie doesn't quite live up to the original story. Well, that is why I never read the book before the movie - with the possible exception of Where the Wild Things Are once I finally get a chance to watch it. But, I think I will be pretty safe in knowing that the book and movie will be a little different.

Anyway, The Lovely Bones (as a movie alone) was pretty decent. I thought that the story itself was very good and the performances were stellar.

I was especially enamored with the performance of Saoirse Ronan, who played Susie Salmon. She did a pretty wonderful job for someone I had never heard of, nor seen any of her work previous. And her eyes were amazing - perfect for this type of role.

The other standout was Stanley Tucci as George Harvey. Just a great and creepy performance from him.

The story follows young Susie Salmon, a high school student and budding photographer, who is sort of coming of age, and is asked out by her boy crush for the first time.

On her way home from school one day (the next few parts could be considered spoilers, but the movie shows everything so the viewer knows this information - up to you if you want to read it) and meets up with George Harvey in a corn field. Harvey has built an underground fort 'for the kids' and asks Susie to look at it with him. At first it seems pretty innocent - to her - but she slowly starts to get uncomfortable and tries to leave. But, George has no intentions of letting her leave - he built this fort to kill her.

The rest of the movie has some good and some bad parts. I really felt the "purgatory" that Susie is in was very over the top - although it was beautiful to look at.

The great part is the rest of her family. Her father, Jack (Mark Wahlberg), will stop at nothing to find out what happened to his daughter. I sort of relate the most to Jack as a father, because I feel I would act the exact same way as he did. Susie's sister, Lindsey (Rose McIver), also plays Sherlock Holmes, especially after getting a strange feeling about Mr. Harvey.

That leads me to the ending, which I thought was very odd and not exactly what I was hoping for as an ending. Again, I am not sure if this was by the book or something the filmmakers did on their own - but I was hoping for a better ending.

On the story and the performances I recommend the film. I could have done without the 'purgatory'-like state - and as often as it is used. Plus, a better ending would have lifted the grade for me.

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