The story unfolds on the gritty, blue-collar streets of Lowell, Massachusetts, where Dicky (Christian Bale) was once known as "The Pride of Lowell" having gone the distance with the world champion Sugar Ray Leonard; however, after losing that fight, like the town of Lowell, Dicky's fallen on hard times. His boxing days are behind him and his life has become shattered by drug abuse. Younger brother Micky (Mark Wahlberg), meanwhile, has become the family's fighter and fading hope for a champion. But despite all of his work, Micky's career is failing and he loses fight after punishing fight. Dicky and Micky's tougher-than-nails mother, Alice (Melissa Leo), manages his career and Dicky serves as his highly unreliable trainer. When Micky's latest fight nearly kills him, it looks like it could all be over—until his iron-willed new girlfriend, Charlene (Amy Adams), convinces him to do the unthinkable: split with his family, pursue his own interests and train without his increasingly volatile and criminal brother. Now Micky has the chance of a lifetime as he earns a shot at the World Championship. But when his brother and dysfunctional family reenter his life, they must all reconcile their pasts and become more than just a family in name. With Micky and Dicky reunited, this becomes more than just a fight—it's an all-out comeback for these brothers, their family, and their city.

Sometimes movies are defined by their story or their effects and sometimes like in the Fighter they are defined by their acting and performances. What makes the fighter so good are the performances of its cast. It's hard to not see Christian Bale as a crack addled former boxer trying to hang onto his past or Mark Wahlberg as a boxer and family man that just can't seem to cut the strings that are binding him so tight even if they are slowly starting to suffocate him. And until a new girl comes into his life of Amy Adams he finds himself slowly sinking further and further into the depths of loss, hardship and despair his family can't seem to escape. It helps that the film is based on true events that give that story its extra little punch but it’s the acting that has it floating to the top like the cream of the crop.

That is not to say that the Fighter doesn’t have a great story and plot it is just overshadowed by all the great acting of the movie. The story of a down out and fighter looking for redemption and a shot is nothing new but that is not just what the fighter is about and it’s all the little subplots that go with that main plot that make the story so good and so compelling. From the crack addled brother who is a pock mark on everyone around him, to the overbearing mother and sisters who would suffocate Micky Ward it all adds up to a wonderful story that is so complex and has many layers.

The movie does benefit from being based on a true story and that is where a lot of its great storylines came from because sometimes reality can be greater than fiction. But the film merges its great acting and characters with the story as well as with its visuals and its almost gritty tough on the ropes scenes. The Fighter isn’t your typical boxing movie as there is few scenes of boxing and way more scenes of human drama.

I am not sure who gave a better performance whether it was Mark Wahlberg or Christian Bale but I think my money is on Bale. Unlike Wahlberg he makes you forget every past performance he has been in and all you can see is Dickey Ward a crack addict who was once more and hangs onto that knowledge as his last lifeline. There are other great performances from Adams to Leo but it is Wahlberg and Bale who sell the movie. The Fighter is a great film that has some of the best acting in it that makes you want to see it again and again.

Grade: A