The Fighter

"Every dream deserves a fighting chance."

2010 1h 56m EN

👍

7.4

SOLID

🔥

91%

CERTIFIED FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.8

IMDB

★7.4TMDB · 4,871🍅91%Rotten Tomatoes●79Metacritic★7.8IMDB · 405,736

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“Every dream deserves a fighting chance.”

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Cast

Mark Wahlberg
Micky Ward
Christian Bale
Dicky Eklund
Amy Adams
Charlene Fleming
Melissa Leo
Alice Ward
Mickey O'Keefe
Mickey O'Keefe
Jack McGee
George Ward
Melissa McMeekin
"Little Alice" Eklund
Bianca Hunter
Cathy "Pork" Eklund

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: David O. Russell
Writers: Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 5.2× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 16 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by David O. Russell, shot by Hoyte van Hoytema. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Michael Brook. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Pamela Martin shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale and Amy Adams carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Every dream deserves a fighting chance.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0964517 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

David O. Russell directs. Hoyte van Hoytema behind the camera. Michael Brook scores. Pamela Martin cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 5.2× over at the box office.
2Released 16 years ago.
3Directed by David O. Russell, shot by Hoyte van Hoytema. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Michael Brook. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Pamela Martin shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale and Amy Adams carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Every dream deserves a fighting chance.".
8IMDB entry: tt0964517 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 19 themes, including "sports", "irish-american", "boxer", "biography".

The technical file

Cinematography: Hoyte van Hoytema
Original score: Michael Brook
Editing: Pamela Martin
Production design: Judy Becker
Costume design: Mark Bridges
Makeup / hair: Kristen Barry
VFX supervisor: Tim Carras
Sound: Odin Benitez
Stunt coordinator: Ray Siegle
Runtime: 116 min · 1h 56m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $25,000,000
Box office: $129,190,869
Return: 517% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Fighter (2010)
Rotten Tomatoes: 91% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 79/100
IMDB rating: 7.8/10 · 405,736 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

Won 2 Oscars. 74 wins & 123 nominations total

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

David O. Russell

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Kenneth Axel Carlsson2014-12-29
★ 7.5/10
Two brothers. Two fighters. One has had his time and his now a junkie - Dicky (Christian Bale), and the other is in the shape of his life, with his career ahead of him - Micky (Mark Wahlberg). The two love eachother, but one is on his way up, and the other is on his way down. Lets just say, it is not without problems. This is based on a true story, btw, and we see the two brothers by the credits (lovely idea, and also shows us how true the actors are to the real brothers). The story is centered around Micky, but we also get a lot of insight into his crazy family, which consists of a mad and devoted mother (Melissa Leo), a hundred sisters and of course, the father who is just trying to survive in the ocean of women. They all mean well, but damn, I am glad my family is different from them. I've never (big word in this case, but still) been a big David O. Russell fan. His movies has been a little too... fancy for my liking, and with a weird sense of humor (seriously, I've never understood what why everyone liked Silver Linings Playbook). However, this one really took me by the heart and flipped me around. It is a very emotional story, and the fact that it's a true story, only makes it so much better. Also, the actors are great, especially the two brothers, Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale. They have enough contrasts between them to make it really interesting. Last words... forget the boxing matches. They are ok, but its the story between the brothers that is the real story here. I mean... that last scene with the two being interviewed... that got me so bad. It is a predictable story, but really, I can forgive that, since the rest is so good.
Andres Gomez2015-04-16
★ 8/10
A really good movie like you don't easily find lately. Great story, without getting into getting cheesy and great cat. Specially remarkable Christian Bale and Amy Adams but they all perform superb. Just waiting for the second part ...