The Fighter

David O. Russell's The Fighter is another fine entry into the ever-expanding recent subgenre of Massachusetts-based films (Mystic River, The Departed, Gone Baby Gone, The Town) as a labor of love on the part of its star and producer, Mark Wahlberg. I was on hand at the World Premiere during the AFI Film Festival in Los Angeles last night where Wahlberg came out and introduced the film, claiming that he would travel to the house of anyone who didn't like the movie and do hard labor in exchange for the time spent watching it. A ridiculous claim, but obviously fueled by his passion for this project, one that was in development for four years and saw multiple actors and directors - including Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, and Darren Aronofsky - drop out before its final configuration was decided. The Fighter is a strong piece of work that benefits from the passion of everyone involved and rides not so much on the style of the director but on the performances of its actors.

The Fighter
Director: David O. Russell
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo

While Wahlberg is the one who - behind the scenes, anyway - appeared most dedicated to getting this movie made, it's ironically the other actors that are almost certain to go home with acting accolades come February. If nothing else, this movie will be remembered for a phenomenal performance from Christian Bale (a lock for a Best Supporting Actor nomination and probably a win) and exceptional work from Amy Adams and Melissa Leo. It's almost unfair - Wahlberg actually does some really good work (erasing any doubts cast by The Happening that he is, in fact, a talented actor), but he's outshined by the supporting cast that surrounds him.

The film tells the real-life story of "Irish" Micky Ward (Wahlberg), a blue collar boxer from Lowell, Massachusetts, trained by his older half-brother Dick "Dickie" Ecklund (Bale). Micky's idolized Dickie for years, since Dickie was once a professional boxer and knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard in a match, earning him the nickname "the pride of Lowell." Trouble is, now Dickie's a crack addict, and though he claims the camera crew following him around is documenting his comeback, they're actually there filming a documentary on the dangers of crack cocaine. Micky has a huge family; led by his manager/matriarch Alice (Leo), and including his gaggle of seemingly jobless sisters and half-sisters, they hinder Micky from living up to his full potential and argue constantly with his new bartender girlfriend Charlene (Adams).

The film's title points more to the battle between family members than boxing, although when Russell does bring the camera into the ring for (essentially) the final act, the effect is adequate enough for any sports movie fan. Truly, though, The Fighter is a story about family - especially the relationship between half-brothers Micky and Dickie. Wahlberg and Bale play spectacularly off each other, and Bale's drug-addled wiry frame (in another physical performance reminiscent of his massive weight loss for The Machinist) slinks around the screen like a serpent, leaving the audience always unsure of his reliability but never wavering about his familial love. I must admit, being completely unfamiliar with the real-life events of this story, I had no idea how Dickie would fare as the film progressed - but in case you're like me I won't ruin the story for you. Instead, I'll just say that I was pleased with his narrative arc; in fact, the entire movie is a wholly satisfying experience. The movie is not about the outcome of the final fight - any movie watcher can guess how that'll turn out - but it's about watching this messed up family unit put aside their differences and work together for a common goal.

Recent Academy darling Amy Adams seems poised to be nominated again, this time for her depiction of Charlene, the "tell-it-like-it-is" college dropout turned bartender. She's a great influence on Micky and imbues the character with a strength sorely lacking in female characters on screen these days. She's not a feminist icon or anything - far from it, as her actions in the movie mostly stem from her relationship with a man - but regardless, she plays one of the most grounded characters in the movie and injects the film with a much-needed shot of heart. Melissa Leo also does a terrific job as the overprotective Alice, a character we alternately despise and sympathize with. There's talk of Leo being nominated as well, but at the risk of turning this into an Oscar prognostication piece, I'll just agree that it's a legitimate possibility.

The soundtrack deserves a brief mention, effectively blending a mix of 80's rock like Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again" with more recent tracks like The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Strip My Mind" (a song I've never heard in a movie before) and The Heavy's currently-omnipresent "How You Like Me Now?" Though the film is reminiscent of Rocky in some ways, the music wisely stays away from the soaring tunes that worked well in the 70's but would reek of cheese in today's moviegoing marketplace.

Ultimately, The Fighter is an enjoyable character-based sports drama that succeeds because it concentrates more on relationships than faceless brawls. It's a huge crowd pleaser, and the audience at the AFI Fest totally dug it. That type of reaction is to be expected by an underdog film, but this one has a bit more to chew on than more "feel good" fare like Wahlberg's 2006 sports drama Invincible (which I also liked quite a bit). The formula is somewhat predictable but the direction is skillful, culling great performances from actors that signify The Fighter as one of the best-acted films of the year. Until next time...

Unstoppable

Director Tony Scott returns to the world of high speed pursuits in Unstoppable, his fifth collaboration with star Denzel Washington. Inspired by true events, the film follows an out-of-control train as it tears through the Pennsylvania countryside and the two mismatched railroad employees who take it upon themselves to stop it.

Unstoppable
Director: Tony Scott
Starring: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson, Kevin Dunn

I must admit: while Tony Scott's filmography is fairly populist and mostly enjoyable to me, I'm beginning to tire of his frenetic style and predictable storylines. Never has this been more apparent than in Unstoppable, a movie that - by the very nature of its plot - almost demands that you sit on the edge of your seat but never actually does anything to earn that demand.

Most of the reason I didn't particularly care for the film is due to the lackluster script by Mark Bomback. It's exactly the type of movie you think it's going to be, and the movie takes absolutely no risks in telling this story. Every character is a walking cliche, from the hard working but under-appreciated Connie Hooper (Dawson) to her buffoonish boss (Dunn), and the movie somehow manages to make the main characters almost totally uninteresting. There are the standard family issues - Washington's Frank Barnes is losing touch with his teenage daughters, Pine's Will Colson has a strained relationship with his wife and son - but there is so little time spent building those relationships that we don't particularly care if the issues are resolved. Scott paints broad strokes here, evoking the typical American discontent with authority and bureaucracy enhanced by 9/11 by portraying those characters as comically inept throughout.

Sometimes a movie can be so mediocre that it angers me more than a truly awful film. I feel bad ragging on a movie like this because A) I'm not a screenwriter, nor do I know to what degree the studio altered the script and B) it's actually a competent movie and I'm sure a lot of people will like it. It's comfort food for your eyes on the big screen, with serviceable performances from everyone involved but nothing fresh about the presentation. Many of Scott's films tell stories that have been told before, but usually he brings something new to the table that at least makes it interesting (Top Gun's dogfighting sequences, for example). In Unstoppable, even the action is predictable and without consequence. (Small spoiler alert - even the one railroad worker we think dies in an action scene is revealed to have miraculously survived in a cheesy end-credits explanation scene.)

Nearly everything about this movie seems uninspired or too on the nose, even down to Scott's fetishistic portrayal of machines as villains and the John Henry-esque human spirit triumphing over it. This film also had trouble gaining speed (so to speak) in preproduction; Washington dropped in and out of involvement and rampant budget cuts came down from the studio, and those problems seemed to translate into the final product. There's no life in this film, and everything is frustratingly average. The only patch of brightness belongs to Ethan Suplee, who sells the guilt of causing this whole thing with ease but - again - doesn't bring anything new to the table.

Massive Spoilers Ahead

I was thoroughly unimpressed with Unstoppable, but what did you think about it? Did the Apollo 13 ending seem endearing to you or more like an inadequate imitation? Sound off in the comment section. And shouldn't this movie have been called Stoppable? Until next time...

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: Blu-ray Review

[Is it necessary for me to post this here? Probably not, but since I wrote it up for GeekTyrant and it's a bit longer than just another news post, I'll republish it here for my own records. Check out my original review here.]

On November 1st, Guillermo del Toro interviewed Edgar Wright at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood after a screening of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. I think del Toro said it best when he said, "If you haven't seen [Scott Pilgrim vs. The World], you're a motherf*cker." Strong words, but the passion behind them is as genuine as the movie itself. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is one of my favorite films of the year and one of those special movies that comes along every few years and perfectly captures the essence of a generation.

As difficult as it may be, I'm going to try to refrain from showering more praise on this film than I already have (check out our coverage of Comic-Con 2010 for examples - my review, panel coverage, etc.) and instead tell you about the Blu-ray, which is one of the best I've seen in a while.

The film follows 22-year-old Scott Pilgrim, a jobless bass player in a crappy rock band who literally meets the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers. When Scott discovers he has to battle Ramona's seven evil exes in order to keep dating her, he learns an important lesson about what he's willing to sacrifice for love. Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) co-wrote and directs, and crafts Scott Pilgrim vs. The World into one of the most visually inventive and cinematically impressive things I've seen in the past decade.

The amount of bonus features included on this disc is astounding. Before we even get to the main menu screen, Universal's PocketBlu feature allows viewers the option of streaming a bonus movie (my choices were Pitch Black or Tremors) absolutely free, allowing access via any internet connected Blu-ray Player, PS3, smartphone, or iPad. Pretty freaking cool, and although the free movie selection could be a little better, I'm not complaining because this will actually give me a chance to see Pitch Black for the first time.

There are four (!) full-length commentaries available: one with Edgar Wright, co-writer Michael Bacall, and creator Bryan Lee O'Malley; a technical commentary with Wright and director of photography Bill Pope (The Matrix, Army of Darkness, Spider-Man 2); a cast commentary with Michael Cera, Jason Schwartzman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong, and Brandon Routh; and a second cast commentary with Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Kieran Culkin, and Mark Webber.

My favorite feature was the 49-minute "Making of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" documentary, which inserted some of Wright's video blogs from his days of filming and intercut them with new interviews with the cast and crew as they talked about creating the film. It's really extensive and covers almost all aspects of the production, from the inception of the idea to the cast training, musical rehearsals, and the actual execution of it all. As if the final film itself wasn't enough to make you respect the hell out of what these people were able to accomplish, this documentary highlights the insane effort they put in to making this film as great as it is.

There are many more separate documentary features, including interviews with bands Metric and Broken Social Scene (who provided some of the music in the movie) and even one that teaches you how to play one of Sex Bob-omb's songs on the guitar. There are also some really cool animatics and motion capture footage of the actors in front of blue screens detailing the pre-production process and their test footage before filming began.

Fear not: there are many other bonus items as well, including trailers, photo galleries, blooper reels, VFX footage, and alternate edits of certain sequences of the film. All of that is well and good, but the the movie itself is so good that it's hard to go straight to all of those smaller aspects without revisiting the film again.

Basically, if you're a fan of this movie, this is a must-have. It's the best video game movie I've ever seen, and it's not even based on a video game. It's "comic-booky" in all the right ways, and Wright's incredible visual style heightens the reality of the story (you can really feel Bill Pope's Matrix influence in the fantastic fight scenes), but it also has legitimately interesting characters that we really care about. It diverges from O'Malley's source material in all the right places while still retaining the essence of the story - no small feat for any adaptation.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World hits shelves tomorrow, November 9th, 2010. I can't recommend it highly enough. Until next time...

The NJNM Podcast: Ep. 16 - Dollman and Trancers (Guest: Joe Leininger from The Playing Field)

Tyler, Pat, and Ben are joined by Joe Leininger (from The Playing Field) to discuss a pair of Tim Thomerson movies: 1991's Dollman and 1985's Trancers.

Don't forget to e-mail us your thoughts at notjustnewmovies@gmail.com or call and leave us a voicemail at (904) 469-6566.