The Fighter: Starring Mark Wahlberg as Mickey Ward, Christian Bale as Dicky Ecklund

It was on the undercard of DLH-Whitaker, I believe.

Christian Bale won Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes, in case anyone cares and as I type this, Melissa Leo won Best Supporting Actress.

 

I think he just knew it would get him some fans in Massachusetts

 

Christian Bale may be a lunatic with a huge ego, but the guy is a terrific performer

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the crazy bastard smoked crack to prepare for the role.

 

Yup they took serious liberties with actual facts in this film. In real life, Sanchez fight was the fight before a title shot, but that title shot was for Vince Philips for the IBF title which Micky lost because of cuts. In real life Mike Mungin didn't weight 160lbs!


But the choreography of the O'neary fight was superb.

 

Anybody choreographing a fight between two Mick windmills has their fucking work cut out.

 

You can see why they picked the Neary fight....just watch Part 1- already HBO were getting in on the whole "He fought Ray Leonard" and "he went to jail" thing for Eklund. You'll find thats what they draw on- heavily.


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Jim Lampley in part II "This is like a movie fight" ::

Obviously they have trawled through the fights to see what is in the commentary that can be wedded to their idea of Ward deserving a film.

 

:giggle:

 

He's definitely taken method acting to a whole new level.

 

Wasn't there another film called the fighter or fighting? Was shite.

This fighter film looks quite good tho, but if Bale starts using that Batman voice i'll go mad.

 

It's won two Oscar's so far...Supporting Actor (Bale) and Actress (Leo).

 

Was the only two I expect it to win... and probably the only two it deserves to win. Wasn't sure between Melissa Leo and Amy Adams (though Leo dominated the pre-Oscar award shows), but Bale was a lock - the only way he wasn't winning was if the voters held that much of a grudge against him.

 

Also in case anyone cares, Micky Ward and Dick Ecklund are in attendance. Bale even gave Ecklund's website a free plug during his acceptance speech.

 

Just watched this movie over the weekend, it's a good movie. I enjoyed it. I won't nit pick it to death like a lot of you and whine about Ward not deserving a movie. I've always liked Ward and he's got an interesting story. Good movie.

 

both awards were well deserved i thought. although, that girl from true grit also did a fantastic job (should've been nomiated for lead actress, not supporting imo). dicky looked all jolly and shit when bale won the award. i wonder if he's as crazy as he was portrayed in the movie.

 

:bears:

 

I reported this moved before anyone back in 2003. :bears:

 

We thank you for your reporting excellence.

 

Did you also report on the sequel? ::

This is for all those who wanted the movie to show the Gatti fights...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/01/mark-walhberg-the-fighter-sequel_n_829830.html

Mark Walhberg: 'The Fighter' Sequel In The Works

 

I really liked it. The mother, sisters, girlfriend, his brother and all of the family drama made it a very very good movie. Christian Bale was FANTASTIC in this movie. In fact, Mark Wahlberg suffered in comparison. I can't get over just how good Bale was in this movie. The part when the documentary is playing in the prison is just BRUTAL. Bale actually reminded me of some of the knuckleheads I grew up with in Kingston who would put on the tough guy act but were also into drugs.

Solid movie, solid story. They should have been accurate about the WBU title fight with Shea Neary, but I was laughing my guts out when Dicky gave the finger to Neary.

It was really really good!

 

Which part did u mean on the accuracy of the Neary fight?

 

That it was a Junior Welter fight for the fringe trinket WBU. He didn't become the welterweight world champion.

 

Ok calm down. I'm getting teh sense that you're ejaculating in your pants while typing this....

 

Not only that but in the movie, they forged their actual weights to translate to the welterweight limit. Didn't understand the purpose of that.

I liked the performances a lot more than the movie itself. Christian Bale's portrayal of Ecklund goes without saying. Unbelievable job. I thought Amy Adams and Melissa Leo were equally stellar, though the Oscar went to the right person.

The only one I wasn't really blown away by was Mark Wahlberg. Honestly, I didn't see any separation between this role and the one he played in "Invincible." In fact, his performance made it feel like I was watching the same movie (side note: I liked Invincible, but not enough to see it done in a boxing ring).

And in the epitome of my shotness... I could've sworn I've already typed all of this before.

 

But yes it was a good film and well acted. The actress who played his mother deserved the Oscar. She was great. Bale was great also.

Walhberg was NOTHING like Mickey Ward and so I'm glad he wasn't nominated. Academy would have lost credibility if they had nominated him for best actor...although he did turn in a solid performance.

 

It was a good film, but the acting was great.

BTW sly, how did you know I was ejaculating in my pants?::

 

Not true. Wahlberg was like all accounts I've seen of Ward: unassuming, quiet, a bit on the shy side, and sincere. His performance was good, but it was totally overshadowed by a great one in Bale.

 

We have to agree to disagree. Wahlberg displayed far more "edge" than I would associate with Mickey Ward from what I've seen of him in interviews.

 

That's because you were watching interviews. People aren't natural in interviews because they are aware they are being filmed. They get nervous or tense and often become quieter or calmer. Sometimes it's even the opposite. I've yet to see an interview where Ward shows he was pissed off at his brother like the prison visit scene.