While watching this at our local popcorn emporium, I was wondering "is this the best movie about boxing I've ever seen?"
At first I thought "it doesn't have much competition", considering that Rocky 1-5 were the first 5 movies to spring to mind. But then I remembered Cinderella Man (Russell Crowe), Million Dollar Baby (Hilary Swank), Ali (Will Smith), The Boxer (Daniel Day-Lewis), and Raging Bull (Robert de Niro).
Maybe it wasn't the absolute best, but it probably came equal first with Crowe's and de Niro's efforts.
Yes it had the requisite living in poverty, fighting for survival, will-he-or-won't-he-win angles, but managed to distinguish itself with the family aspect.
Based on the true story of Micky Ward (who only retired from boxing in 2003, after 3 epic fights against Arturo Gatti), the film is particularly notable for Ward's family.
His mother believes she can be his manager, but only manages to hinder him. His 7 sisters adore him, but are the strangest bunch of lookers the casting director could find. His older brother Dicky - played by Christian Bale - wants to relive his own boxing past and train Micky to become a champion, but is hampered by crack addiction. Not exactly the model family, but such is life in and around the ring.
Mark Wahlberg turns in his usual "Mark Wahlberg" performance, but he's completely and utterly blown away by Bale, who again lost an unbelievable amount of weight for the role (as he did in The Machinist). I bet very few people know he's from the same home town as Rhys Ifans, that Welsh-est of Welshmen.
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