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I'm the one fighting, okay? Not you, not you, and not you.


The Fighter
(2010)

David O Russell makes this determinedly blue-collar fact-based tale admirably light on the kind of romanticised storytelling of Rocky (although he apparently had it in mind while making the picture). 

Christian Bale is typically attention-grabbing as the crack addict has-been older brother Dicky Ward, but Wahlberg brings quiet intensity to Micky and deserves just as much credit (it is interesting how Wahlberg flounders uncharismatically when he's called on to be the centre of attention in films though; he tends to need a stronger presence to contrast to). 

The delectable. Amy Adams and the powerhouse Melissa Leo provide strong support as girlfriend and mother respectively. I hadn't realised how light these welterweight boxers are (up to 10 1/2 stone) and it's a fairly impressive piece of discipline for Wahlberg to have reduced to that weight.


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