Rating of
4/4
You had a hard enough time being you
patjohnson76 - wrote on 12/13/10
One of my favorites of the year. A strong cast round out this movie about Micky Ward, a boxer from the economically depressed Lowell Massachusetts trying to make it as a professional boxer. While boxing does serve as the motivator for Micky, it's his relationship with his family that really stand out here - Bale succeeds as his crack-addicted delusional brother who thinks he's staging a comeback for himself, Leo stands out as Micky's incompetent mother/manager, and Adams is strong as Micky's girlfriend who finally opens his eyes to his possibilities. With all these great performances, it would be easy to overlook Wahlberg as Ward himself, and its a shame, because this is one of his best roles.
On a side note, as a former resident of Lowell Mass, I have to say they really got the times right. I only lived there for a year and it was after the revitalization projects that occur after the times in the movie are portrayed, but the blue-collar mindset is pretty accurate. Great film.
