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We Drink And We Fight And We Drink And We Die

By TK | Posted Under Trailers | Comments (25)

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There’s a lot to love about this trailer for David O. Russell’s The Fighter, starting with the fact that it’s directed by David O. Russell (Three Kings, Spanking The Monkey, Flirting With Disaster). It’s based on a true story:

A drama about boxer “Irish” Micky Ward’s unlikely road to the world light welterweight title. His Rocky-like rise was shepherded by half-brother Dicky, a boxer-turned-trainer who rebounded in life after nearly being KO’d by drugs and crime.

Mark Wahlberg stars as Micky, with Christian Bale as brother Dicky, and they both look at the top of their respective games. Amy Adams plays Wahlberg’s love interest, as an added bonus. Check the trailer:

I’m in. For one thing, I generally just love boxing movies. I love the sport, though I watch it less than I once did. I’ve seen pretty much every boxing movie ever, from the best ones like Rocky, Raging Bull and The Great White Hope, to the goofy ones like Gladiator and The Great White Hype. The story looks great. Wahlberg, when he’s not wasting our time in crap like Four Brothers, can be pretty amazing, and Bale is Bale.

And I won’t lie — the shot of Amy Adams in her unmentionables didn’t hurt.

But in all seriousness, the film is already getting early award buzz, for what that’s worth. Me, I’m just excited for it in general. Plus, it’s filmed in Boston, and it gives me an excuse for this:









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Comments

Gee, this looks down right Amurrkin.

I love Christian Bale.

Posted by: grace b at September 16, 2010 9:23 AM

I love you TK :)

Posted by: SarahReznor aka Barkai at September 16, 2010 9:26 AM

I don't throw around words like "warrior" very often, but Mickey Ward and Arturo Gatti were fucking warriors in their trilogy of fights. I've never seen two guys take that many flush punches and just keep coming forward (not to mention broken noses, hands, and ribs). It brings a goddamned tear to my eye remembering the heart and determination these crazy bastards exhibited every time they stepped in the ring.

Posted by: Kballs at September 16, 2010 9:30 AM

Looks great, but I would have loved to see what Aronofsky (sp?) could have done back when he was attached. Sigh.

Posted by: aidan at September 16, 2010 9:35 AM

Count me in, but I have to ask: who the hell calls their sons Micky and Dicky? I mean they would have to take up boxing just to defend themselves daily in the playground.

Posted by: PaddyDog at September 16, 2010 9:55 AM

this looks good.

i have to say though, it kind of creeps me out how bale can constantly yo-yo back and forth from big and buff to gaunt. can't be easy on the system. the guys younger than me, and in that trailer, you look around his eyes, and he looks like he's in his fities. doesn't that shit catch up with a guy after a while?

Posted by: idleprimate at September 16, 2010 9:59 AM

This looks fantastic. Boxing is the only sport I enjoy and I especially love movies about boxing. I've seen a lot of boxing films for a chick including oldies like the The Set-Up. I also love that this was film in Boston being a Southern New Englander myself.

Posted by: Danielle Lilly at September 16, 2010 10:00 AM

the trailer is conventional (too sad,people who saw the movie in screen tests said the movie was likeable, refreshing and engaging with great acting)but that works well for me

Posted by: caro at September 16, 2010 10:03 AM

PaddyDog, the nicknames are a Northeastern thing. At least where I come from in the Northeast people do this. Maybe it's a lower class thing. Parents will shorten their kids names to Georgie if your name is George, Eddie if your name is Edward, Chrissy if your name is Christopher, Dicky if your name is Richard and so on and so forth. They do it to girls too.

Posted by: Danielle Lilly at September 16, 2010 10:07 AM

Drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and fight (hey!)

Drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and fight (hey!)

And if I see a pretty girl I'll sleep with her tonight (hey!)

Drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and drink and fight.

Posted by: , at September 16, 2010 10:20 AM

Amy Adams....Yessssss!

Posted by: sars at September 16, 2010 10:55 AM

Clam chowdaaaah!

Posted by: howmuchartcanyoutake at September 16, 2010 11:00 AM

Eh, needs more Mr. T.

Posted by: , at September 16, 2010 11:11 AM

This trailer didn't really do it for me, but I'm still seeing the shit out of this movie.

Posted by: Snrub at September 16, 2010 11:11 AM

I googled Micky Ward and HELLZ YEAH! This shit is all true. The quitting, the fighting,the drugs, the comeback ALL TRUE. I will see this movie.

Posted by: logan at September 16, 2010 11:33 AM

Marky Mark: When he is good he is very very good and when he is bad he is horrid.

But that voice. That voice makes me underoos fall down 'rounds me ankles.

So yeah. I'm there.

Posted by: klingonfree at September 16, 2010 12:31 PM

Marky Mark: When he is good he is very very good and when he is bad he is horrid.

So true! Well put.

Posted by: MM at September 16, 2010 1:04 PM

Okay... I'll tread lightly here...

But when will it be time to retire the fetishization of blue collar, Irish, working class south-Boston culture? I realize it's kind of cool- and the characters it yields are fiery and compelling... but isn't it really, in the end, just another pocket of willfully ignorant, historically violent and visciously racist American white trash?

It follows the same trend that saw a boom in films about Italian-American organized criminals, which experienced a fall when we all realized what we'd been glorifying, and to a lesser extent with the pseudo-anthropological late-90's obesession with gang culture in South Central Los Angeles.

I'm saying this because this trailer features, i'm fairly sure, three instances of our scrappy Irish hero mixing it up with a comically muscled African American opponant. The Irish/Catholic/Boston culture has always had a strong vein of conscious "white pride" that often goes overlooked because Massachusetts is in the northeast. This looks like too smart of a movie to be blind to these facts- and i'm sure they handle them with a deft hand. What i'm saying, though, is that i'm fairly sick of the genre, which too often acts as a sort of guilt-free indulgence for America's latent/vestigial racist impulses. I'm not saying Irish Americans are all racist, nor am I saying that everyone who loved The Departed is a racist (I loved it.) But as the current political landscape shows us, there is a lot of racial animus out there on the part of people who would never have dreamt of self-describing themselves as racists.

Probably a heavy-handed post. Probably should have waited till I got home from work so I could think through my points a little more thoroughly. But there you have it.

Posted by: Martin at September 16, 2010 3:39 PM

Anybody who wants to get a real good rundown of life in South Boston needs to read All Souls by Michael Patrick Macdonald. Fantastic read, and educational into the mindset of that group. I'm looking at you, Martin.

Posted by: RepoGenetic at September 16, 2010 7:12 PM

MARTIN- it's a fuckin movie eh? I like pirate movies too but I dont plan to buy a schooner and start raiding the local bass fisherman.

Posted by: logan at September 16, 2010 7:36 PM

Meh.

Posted by: Damian at September 17, 2010 5:02 AM

Aargh! More fish fer me then!

Posted by: Ender at September 17, 2010 6:07 AM

Martin methinks you need to get laid, pal. Lighten the hell up.

Posted by: klingonfree at September 17, 2010 12:03 PM

Thems mighty strong words for somebody with the handle "klingonfree".

Posted by: Martin at September 17, 2010 4:39 PM

Thems mighty strong words for somebody with the handle "klingonfree".

While I disagree with Martin's fundamental point, especially considering this is essentially a biopic... this statement is not without validity. Or hilarity, for that matter.

Posted by: TK at September 17, 2010 4:43 PM