Drama starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale in which a junkie jeopardizes the boxing career of his younger brother.

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Surrounded by his annoying sisters, managed by his harpy of a mother and trained in a questionable manner by his older brother – a former boxer turned junkie who’s the object of a TV investigative report on the ravages of crack – Micky Ward is a mediocre boxer from a blue-collar town in Massachusetts. When he meets an attractive bartender and his irresponsible brother is incarcerated, Micky understands he needs to free himself from his family and train seriously if he wants to get out of his predicament.

Excellent drama, both for the boxing and the relationships, whose scenes outside the ring hit the hardest, oddly enough. The only failing of The Fighter is that it mirrors a little too much the model of the genre (birth of a champion, family scenes, rock soundtrack, the physical transformation of its stars), the monumental Raging Bull. Christian Bale is marvelous as the junkie brother.