The Fighter

about two months ago i bought david o. russell's film joy for six bucks. it was the fifth film of his i now owned meaning i now needed to own all his films. about two weeks ago i bought american hustle for four bucks and two days ago i planned on watching them, in chronological order. that would mean hustle and then joy. i watched and reviewed hustle but before i could watch joy, i.e. yesterday, i bought the fighter for two dollars and sixty seven cents. so i had to watch the fighter first, and that meant that my watching order was no longer chronological. damn, but at the same time, oh well.... read more

christian bale is the goat read more

the performances carry the film, with a lesser cast it would still be a good movie, but they make it a great movie. christian bale is on another level with the best performance of his career. melissa leo and amy adams are both brilliant as well. mark wahlberg isn't the most talented actor, but he holds his own with these heavyweights and gives them time to shine while keeping the story firmly about him. it kicked off a little renaissance for david o. russell and is probably his strongest overall work. he does a wonderful job crafting roles to give his actors an opportunity to shine. i would... read more