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movies Barnburner David O. Russell's The Fighter is intense and emotionally rich. By Dana Stevens Posted Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010, at 6:08 PM ET David O. Russell loves a good melee. Whether in the mode of road-trip farce (Flirting With Disaster), Gulf War satire (Three Kings), or a difficult-to-classify new genre that might, at a stretch, be called existential romantic comedy (I Heart Huckabees), Russell makes movies that mix it up. He favors large casts, multiple story lines, dialogue that flies loose and fast, and broad sight gags that suddenly give way to philosophical exchanges of almost comical bleakness. His films unfold in an atmosphere of barely controlled chaos. What's more, the director himself is a notoriously volatile presence: Witness the much-circulated clip of him in a screaming match with Lily Tomlin on the I Heart Huckabees set. Russell's decision to make a boxing biopic--based on the true story of the underdog welterweight champion Micky Ward--seemed at first like a waste of his offbeat talent. But as it turns out, The Fighter (Paramount Pictures) is a perfect fit for Russell's style. Really, it's less a sports movie than a family drama, and the family in question--the Ward/Eklund clan of Lowell, Mass., a working-class suburb of Boston--is unhinged enough to do way more than just flirt with disaster. From the start, The Fighter exudes a vibe that's decidedly un-Rocky. Two half-brothers, Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and Dickie Eklund (Christian Bale) walk down the streets of Lowell, Micky contained and shy, Dickie loose-limbed and wildly expressive, greeting everyone in sight, clearly the de facto mayor of the town. As the camera pulls back, we see that the brothers aren't simply strolling but performing. An HBO crew is following them through town, making a movie. Dickie, a former boxing champ whose claim to fame is that he once went the distance against Sugar Ray Leonard,* brags that it's a documentary about his imminent comeback, but it soon becomes clear that HBO is more interested in Dickie's current life situation: He's a crack addict who periodically disappears for days at a time. To continue reading, click here. Dana Stevens is Slate's movie critic. E-mail her at slatemovies@gmail.com. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Spitzer: House Democrats Should Subpoena Every Single Bank-Bailout Document--Quick! Assange Was Supposedly Seduced by a "Honey Trap." Do Governments Really Use Those? Amy Adams Is Surprisingly Vulgar in the Excellent New Movie The Fighter	Advertisement
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