What’s this, another post about a movie that I saw over the holidays?

I spent the holidays this year with April, out in Houston.  For a long-distance relationship, this was our first chance to spend such a long span of time with each other – eleven whole days!  I was off from work for all but two of those days, and while I could’ve taken those last two days as vacation days as well, April had to go to the office.  The last day I was there, this past Monday, she was working, and my flight wasn’t leaving until 9pm, giving me the day to kill.

I took the opportunity to go see The Fighter.  I’d heard all the hype about the film, all the good praise of Christian Bale, etc.  And, let’s face it… who doesn’t like a good boxing flick?  I don’t even like watching real boxing, but I’m a sucker for a good boxing movie.

I'm Batman

Sure enough, The Fighter didn’t disappoint.  Christian Bale as Dicky Eklund was fantastic.  You can’t take your eyes off of him when he’s on screen, all of that manic crack-fueled energy keeping him bobbing and weaving at all times.  He’s that guy who you KNOW you shouldn’t listen to, the one who will ALWAYS get you into trouble or let you down… yet you still fall for the line he’s giving you, eyes wide open that you’re making a mistake and you’ll regret it.

Amy Adams was a total bad ass, the girl who takes shit from no one, especially a loser like Dicky.  I wouldn’t say she was a revelation in The Fighter, since she’s been so good in other movies – in Doubt, she was my favorite non-flying nun of all time, and I just wanted to take care of her in Sunshine Cleaning.

Even the soundtrack was heavy-hitting, with “How You Like Me Now?” coming in expertly during the final boxing match.  The Heavy is one of my new favorite bands, and their anthem was used in just the right spots.

(Did you see what I did there, with the pun?  Pun very much intended!)

As a Massachusetts kid, the shots of Lowell brought back plenty of reminiscing.  While I didn’t grow up in Lowell, it was familiar enough, harkening back to my youth in Framingham and my college years in Waltham.  However, seeing the fashions that Mark Wahlberg wore was more than a little painful.  I’m pretty sure I had the same outfit that he was wearing when the limo came to pick up his family to take them to the airport!

Go see The Fighter. You know my thoughts on TRON: Legacy already.  If I had only gone to the movies once over the holidays instead of twice, The Fighter definitely would’ve been my first choice.