Bob and Justin's Mad Movie Blog

My name is Bob. My friend Justin and I are aspiring filmmakers and we have pretty similar tastes in movies. This will include our take on what's going on in film and television today as well as updating you on the status of our own work.

Monday, January 17, 2011

"The Fighter" and "Blue Valentine"

Movie watching wise it seems I've been on a bit of a role lately. Just about everything I've gone to in the past couple of months has been very good or even great. The wave continued this weekend with a one-two punch of deeply emotional films. I'm very close to being able to finally put together this year's Bob Award Nominations (still have to rent "Winter's Bone" and "Easy A," and "The Illusionist" just needs to come out in Seattle already).

The Fighter - In 1993 Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) is a Lowell, Massachussetts boxer who has potential but has been turning into a "stepping stone" for younger fighters. Time is running out and if he's not careful he could go the way of his crack addicted half-brother Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale). Eklund, still living off of knocking down "Sugar" Ray Leonard in a fight he ultimately lost in 1978 is being followed by an HBO film crew documenting his "comeback." Dicky's self-interest and self-destruction have long prevented him from being the kind of trainer that Micky needs and Micky's loyalty to his family is getting him nowhere.
Knowing he has to start winning meaningful fights as soon as possible, Micky desperately needs dedicated trainers and management, an idea echoed by his new girlfriend Charlene (Amy Adams), but vehemently opposed by virtually his entire overbearing family, the lone exception being his supportive father George (Jack McGee). As his domineering mother Alice (Melissa Leo) is his manager making the change won't be easy.
Directed by David O. Russell ("Three Kings," "I Heart Huckabees"), "The Fighter" is yet another late 2010 release that tells the true life story of a man striving to overcome incredible adversity in one form or another ("127 Hours," "The King's Speech"). Like those "The Fighter" is also one of the best movies of the year. The actors make an already great script come to exceptional life.
Wahlberg delivers an uncharacteristically low key performance that is one of his all-time best. We feel Micky's frustration with his family and hope he will be able to break away. Bale is simply amazing as Dicky, a character who remains sympathetic in spite of his many shortcomings. Film of the real Eklund demonstrates just how fully Bale really captures the man. Leo and McGee are both excellent as a mother and father at opposite ends of the parenting spectrum. Alice could have been a very one note character in the hands of a scenery chewing actress but thankfully Leo gets it just right. Finally, there's Amy Adams. If you've seen "Junebug," "Enchanted," "Miss Pettigrew," "Doubt," etc. and then this you realize that there really is nothing that she can't do. She plays a tough and strong woman who openly speaks her mind as well as she plays anything else. She's making a strong case for being the finest actress of her generation.
About the only false note in "The Fighter" regards some of the moments with the larger Ward/Eklund family. The obnoxious Boston "clan" has become the new stereotypical mafia family and there are a couple of moments where the movie suddenly becomes a broad comedy that doesn't flow with the rest of the film. These moments are rare though so it doesn't sink the ship.
Going into this film I knew it was based on a true story but I knew almost nothing about it nor did I know what the outcome of Micky's quest would be. This is probably the best way to view it to really feel the impact of this powerful and well told story. 9/10.

Blue Valentine - With so many great movies in theaters right now it's very easy for one or two to get lost in the shuffle. My hope is though that before it disappears quietly from theaters that people will discover Derek Cianfrance's story of a relationship's beginning and its painful downward spiral. This may not sound like an enjoyable experience and "Blue Valentine" is full of heartbreak but it is a truly incredible film.
Co-written and directed by Cianfrance, "Blue Valentine" is a terrific example of how to properly use non-linear storytelling rather than as a gimmick. We know up front that things are not going well for Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) and that things will get worse before they get better, if they get better at all. Even so there is a real sense of discovery when watching this film. Discovering what brought them together, kept them together, and what is driving them apart.
What Cianfrance and co-writers Cami Delavigne and Joey Curtis have crafted is a series of conversations and arguments that are more engrossing than virtually any action sequence you could imagine. It's stunning how well written they are and equally impressive are the performances of Gosling and Williams. Much like life, each argument begins innocently enough either with a comment that is misunderstood or a miscommunication. One person is angered by the other and the offender simply can't understand why.
The true testament to how well written and acted the film is, is the feeling that we can always understand where each character is coming from at any given moment. Even if we find ourselves in agreement with one character or another (and it changes constantly which one you'll side with), we understand both points of view and why each character possesses the one they do. What makes it heartbreaking though is that we like Cindy and Dean as much as we do. We see and enjoy the lighthearted moments of their relationship and understand just how much love there is between them and how tragic it is to see it falling apart. When one makes a mistake, no matter how great, we still like them, we still want them to be forgiven by the other.
The dialogue is probably the best written in 2010 and not a word of it sounds as though it was concocted by a writer. It sounds natural, real, and unpretentious and the same can be said for Gosling and Williams in their performances. This is the best movie of the year that no one is talking about and it saddens me to think that it's being overlooked. Nothing this great should pass by unnoticed. It's slowly going into wide release so if it comes anywhere near your town get to it as soon as possible. Yes it is a deeply mournful film but there is a sense of humanity and yes, humor that make it unmissable. 10/10.

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