A heavyweight true-story boxing drama. 4/5 stars
Mark Wahlberg plays boxer 'Irish' Micky Ward in this remarkable true story of a scrappy underdog who triumphs against the odds.
In early-1990s Massachusetts, Micky's career is on the ropes because of his spectacularly dysfunctional family. His elder half-brother, Dicky (Christian Bale), once a very handy fighter himself but now a crack-addicted no-hoper, insists on acting as his trainer, while their fearsome mother, Alice (Melissa Leo), serves as his manager, urged on by the brothers' six hard-cursing sisters. Micky is a punch-bag in and out of the ring, until he hooks up with feisty local barmaid Charlene (Amy Adams, cast defiantly against type), who persuades him that he has to cut loose from his family to get a shot at success.
With director David O Russell drawing out terrific, heavyweight performances from his cast, this super movie leaves the viewer reeling from the bruising drama inside and outside the ring. Bale and Leo both won Oscars and Adams picked up a nomination. Wahlberg is a lot less flashy than his co-stars, yet it's his solidly convincing performance that gives the movie its punch.
