Short Attention Span Review: The Fighter (2010)

Short Attention Span Review: The Fighter (2010)

First off, the thing with rating boxing movies is the depth of the field.  If you set out to make a great volleyball film, the world is yours.  If you set out to go toe to toe with Rocky or Raging Bull, . . . well, things could get ugly.  Thankfully, while The Fighter is vastly inferior to the great boxing flicks of yesteryear, it mostly stands as a drama with a landmark performance anchoring it.  Unfortunately, those great boxing flicks of yesteryear may have been more reliant on boxing, but they were also heavy on the drama, and with The Fighter that landmark performance doesn't belong to the leading man.  The end result is a bit off as a result, though the movie is surely entertaining and crafty.  The soundtrack is great and the dysfunctional family that the story revolves around offer up a steady stream of memorable moments.  The entire cast is game, and de facto star Mark Wahlberg is solid as "Irish" Mickey Ward.  This humble underdog's rise to fame is the backbone for David O'Russell's fast-paced chronicle of the pugilist brothers who put Lowell, Massachusetts on the map.  The other brother in this equation is Dicky Eklund, played to sheer perfection here by Christian Bale.  Yes, Ward is the up-and-comer whose quest for glory is on center stage, but it is Eklund the drug-addicted has-been who makes The Fighter worth watching.  Bale disappears into his role (as he frequently does) and his startlingly authentic portrayal of Eklund is tragic, wildly entertaining, and ultimately incredibly uplifting.  Wahlberg never falters in a less interesting role, but while watching The Fighter I couldn't help but think that it would have soared far higher if it was centered on Bale's Dicky Eklund instead.  As for the boxing bits--well, they're not bad, but we've seen far better.  In the end, we're supposed to be thoroughly impressed when Mickey's hand is finally raised, but Dicky's antics and his gut-wrenching battle with addiction are far more gripping.

Final Grade: B-

Mark Wahlberg may get top billing, but this is Christian Bale's show from start to finish.

Short Attention Span Review: The Big Hit (1998)

A comedy masquerading as an action film, The Big Hit is a goofy flick that surely isn't as good as I think it is.  The story concerns a band of dimwitted assassins and centers on Mark Wahlberg as Melvin Smiley.  That's right, the main character is a fearless killer who survives a series of increasingly ludicrous action scenes, and his name is Melvin Smiley.  That should tell you almost everything you need to know about The Big Hit.  Silly, totally irrelevant, and bolstered by a great cast, this is one of those oddball movies that you come to treasure while wondering how the hell they ever got produced in the first place.  That being said, if you have a taste for the absurd, you'll laugh your ass off while watching The Big Hit.  Lou Diamond Phillips steals the show as the villain, delivering what is probably his best performance.  Look, I like Lou, so I don't mean that as an insult.  I'm dead serious.  He is positively hilarious here, and it's a part that would have tripped most actors up.  He totally gets it, and he owns the movie.  Plug someone else in his role and I might not even like this one--he's that good.  In addition to the laughs, which come fast and furious, there's also an abundance of violence in the movie, though it's so flamboyant and ridiculous that it would be fair to say that The Big Hit comes across as a live-action cartoon.  Buildings blow up, bullets litter the floor, and people are killed, but it all seems fairly lighthearted.  That sounds weird, doesn't it?  I guess it is.  It's definitely unique, it's definitely not for everyone, and I'm probably crazy for liking it as much as I do.  These reviews are all about keeping it real, though, and here's the inside scoop on my relationship with The Big Hit: I'm pretty sure that I love it.

Final Grade: B+

True Story: Lou Diamond Phillips should have won
an Oscar for his work as Cisco in The Big Hit.

Short Attention Span Review: Pain & Gain (2013)

Let's get this out of the way before we go any further: this movie is based on a true story, and the only thing more twisted than what really happened is the idea of turning that story into a comedy.  Stranger still, it's directed by Michael Bay doing all of his usual Michael Bay shit.  Yes, that means a lot of slo-mo and an abundance of classic rock propping us this sicko true crime story.  There were so many times during the movie that I couldn't help but wonder "Is it wrong to laugh at this stuff?"  Honestly, I'm pretty sure it was--but the movie kept making me laugh.  Is it great?  Lord no.  It's not even close.  In fact, it's pretty damn average, mainly because it's definitely too long and all of the primary characters are amusing but impossible to root for.  The movie is centered on Mark Wahlberg's character, and he does a fine job with the most difficult part.  Anthony Mackie was also really good in his role, but if there's one reason to see this, it's the Rock.  No one has ever done a better job of playing a reformed con/cokehead with a Jesus jones as he slips back into a life a crime and rampant abuse of the powerful drug (if you don't believe me, just ask Rick James) that is cocaine, all while clinging to his Jesus jones.  Virtually all of the movie's biggest laughs and better sequences are a result of the Rock flexing his acting muscles, and while I can't recommend this movie wholeheartedly, I would love to see him do something in a similar vein. 

Final Grade: C

Final Grade for the Rock's Performance: A+