THE FIGHTER

Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale and Amy Adams unite for The Fighter, recreating the early years of boxer Micky “Irish” Ward and his close brother before hitting the big leagues in the mid 1980s. Full of heartache, realism and unavoidable brutality, Ward’s tale is a quite often a strikingly harsh one, coupled strongly alongside performances filled with emotional conviction. Bale has received much attention for his performance as prior big shot Dickie Eklund, and rightly so; the actor easily conjuring up one of the best performances of his career. Already nominated for a slew of awards, and bound to round up a few more, The Fighter is a consistently intriguing tale of one mans struggle to truly account for something more. (AG) ***1/2