The Fighter (Blu-ray) (2010) - Oscar Winner!

"An exhilarating fight-flick that, like its scrappy central character, is impossible not to root for.  Adam Smith, Empire
"...entertaining from beginning to end...  Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
"...as thoughtful as it is rousing...  Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
"...a warrior's movie that rises to the bell.  Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Editor's Note Mark Wahlberg stars in Paramount Pictures' inspirational docudrama exploring the remarkable rise of Massachusetts-born, junior welterweight title winner "Irish" Micky Ward. A determined pugilist whose career in the ring was shepherded by his loyal half-brother, Dicky (Christian Bale) -- a hard-living boxer-turned-trainer whose own career in the ring was nearly sent down for the count due to drugs and crime -- perennial underdog Irish Micky rebounded from a disheartening series of defeats to win both the WBU Intercontinental Lightweight title and the WBU Light Welterweight title thanks to a fierce combination of determination and hard work. David O. Russell directs from a script by 8 MILE's Scott Silver and Paul Attanasio (THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM).

	Amy Adams
	Melissa Chessington Leo
	Mark Wahlberg
	Christian Bale
	Peter "Sugarfoot" Cunningham - Co-Star
	Alison Folland - Co-Star
	Bo Cleary - Co-Star
	Sue Costello - Co-Star
	Sugar Ray Leonard - Co-Star
	Jack McGee - Co-Star
	Frank Renzulli - Co-Star
	Dendrie Allyn Taylor - Co-Star
	Mark Kamine - Production Manager/UPM
	Scott Silver - Screenwriter
	Happy Walters - Music Director
	Michael Brook - Composer
	Paul Tamasy - Story
	Paul Tamasy - Screenwriter
	Michele Ziegler - Assistant Director
	Ben Bray - Stunt Coordinator
	Season Kent - Music Director
	Ray Siegle - Stunt Coordinator
	Hoyt van Hoytema - Director of Photography
	Keith Dorrington - Story
	Eric Johnson - Story
	Eric Johnson - Screenwriter
	Kate O'Brien - Co-Star
	Bonnie Aarons - Co-Star
	Ross Bickell - Co-Star
	Ted Arcidi - Co-Star
	Brian Christensen - Co-Star
	Jenna Lamia - Co-Star
	Jeremiah Kissel - Co-Star
	Eric Weinstein - Co-Star
	Matthew Muzio - Co-Star
	Paul Campbell - Co-Star
	Anthony Molinari - Co-Star
	Raul Vera - Co-Star
	Sean Doherty - Co-Star
	Jill Quigg - Co-Star
	Sean Malone - Co-Star
	Dale Place - Co-Star
	Brian Nguyen - Co-Star
	Jerrell Lee - Co-Star
	Mickey O'Keefe - Co-Star
	Melissa McMeekin - Co-Star
	Bianca Hunter - Co-Star
	Erica McDermott - Co-Star
	Caitlin Dwyer - Co-Star
	Chanty Sok - Co-Star
	Jose Antonio Rivera - Co-Star
	Richard Farrell - Co-Star
	Steven Barkheimer - Co-Star
	Art Ramalho - Co-Star
	Jackson Nicoll - Co-Star
	Thomas Benton - Co-Star
	Ray Greenhalge - Co-Star
	Tino Kimly - Co-Star
	Epifanio Melendez - Co-Star
	Sean Eklund - Co-Star
	Roeun Chea - Co-Star
	Rich Kleiman - Co-Star
	Michael Dell'orto - Co-Star
	Paul Locke - Co-Star
	Kim Carrell - Co-Star
	Colin Hammell - Co-Star
	Eddie Lee Anderson - Co-Star
	Joseph Lupino - Co-Star
	Walter Driscoll - Co-Star
	Matt Russell - Co-Star
	A. Joseph Denucci - Co-Star
	Richard A. Eklund - Co-Star
	George Michael Ward - Co-Star
	Richard Eklund Jr. - Co-Star
	Jack Greenhalge - Co-Star
	Kevin Paige - Co-Star
	David A. Ramalho Sr. - Co-Star
	Ziad Akl - Co-Star
	Simon Hamlin - Co-Star
	Gerald Greenhalge - Co-Star
	Matthew Russell - Co-Star
	Tommy Eklund - Co-Star
	Rita Mercier - Co-Star
	Deborah Bolanger - Co-Star
	Kerry Moore - Co-Star
	Philip D. Herbert - Co-Star
	Jack Lally - Co-Star
	Carlos L. Smith - Co-Star
	Hugh K. Long - Co-Star
	Catherine Lynn Stone - Co-Star
	Miguel Espino - Co-Star
	Anthony Ace Thomas - Co-Star
	Jen Weissenberg - Co-Star
	David O. Russell - Director

New York Times
"[THE FIGHTER] is quick on its feet and packs a mighty punch....Mr. Bale's performance is astonishing, in part because he so completely conquers a daunting set of physical and psychological challenges." 12/09/2010

Wall Street Journal
"Mr. Russell directed THE FIGHTER with furious energy -- the overlapping dialogue out-Altmans Robert Altman -- and an exuberant sense of place. The director has an unerring feel for his working class characters..." 12/10/2010

USA Today
"Russell's jangly camera style meshes perfectly with Bale's tweaky energy. Bale is astounding as a strangely charismatic weasel, giving probably the best performance of his career." 12/10/2010

Los Angeles Times
"[With] yet another splendid performance from Wahlberg, who stabilizes the picture by bringing his trademark masculine presence to bear as well as his deep knowledge of Ward and his socio-economic background." 12/10/2010

Entertainment Weekly
"A true-life rise-of-the-underdog boxing saga, directed with volatile handheld immediacy by David O. Russell....This one, as thoughtful as it is rousing, scores a TKO." -- Grade: A- 12/08/2010

Rolling Stone
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "Wahlberg lucked out big-time with Christian Bale. To watch these two dynamite actors spar is one of the purest pleasures of the movie season." 12/09/2010

Washington Post
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "THE FIGHTER possesses the light-footed dexterity and spontaneity of the most sensitive pugilist, circling its characters with equal parts discretion and confrontational zeal." 12/17/2010

Chicago Sun-Times
"[Bale] transforms himself....Melissa Leo is merciless in her depiction of Alice..." 12/15/2010

A.V. Club
"Bale's live-wire performance typifies the many major and minor elements that elevate the THE FIGHTER from the deeply conventional sports movie it might have been into the endearingly offbeat sports movie it turns out to be." - Grade: B 12/09/2010

Rolling Stone
Ranked #8 in Rolling Stone's "10 Best Movies Of 2010" -- "Gifted director David O. Russell refs in high style." 12/24/2010

Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "Inspired, funky, filled with passion, THE FIGHTER is a boxing movie that everyone can love." 03/01/2011

Uncut
4 stars out of 5 -- "THE FIGHTER proves that the boxing movie still has life. It also underlines just what a distinctive actor Bale has become." 03/01/2011

Entertainment Weekly 9 of 10
...what makes the movie such a satisfying, emotionally rounded tale of pugilistic passion and family psychodrama is that the answer isn't as simple as it looks. Wahlberg, doing his soft-spoken/explosive sensitive-bruiser thing, is perfect as the young man who must consider dropping his dysfunctional clan to triumph in the ring. And Bale, cadaverous and google-eyed, with a jack-o'-lantern grin and an energy so manic it borders on the obscene, finally takes the compulsion toward Method eccentricity that's been driving him for close to a decade and makes it pay off. His Dicky is that rare thing: a wing nut with soul and a touch of tragedy, too. Melissa Leo, in a glue-spray bouffant, is vital as the kind of boxing-world stage mother who could kill a kid with love, and Amy Adams, as the bartender who becomes Micky's girlfriend, has a spot-on tough-chick allure. There's a certain predictability to The Fighter, yet that's part of the appeal of the fight genre. This one, as thoughtful as it is rousing, scores a TKO. - Owen Gleiberman

Variety 7 of 10
The best boxing movies aren't about the sport, but what happens outside the ropes. If "The Fighter" doesn't quite measure up to the greats, it's because director David O. Russell seems confused about what to do between bouts. Strangely, that unfocused quality -- vs. any breakthrough narrative angle -- gives the film its punch, injecting Russell's affectionately patronizing portrait of blue-collar pugs "Irish" Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and half-brother Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale) with chaotic energy. - Peter Debruge