Sunday, February 20, 2011

Thoughts on The Fighter

We just saw The Fighter and enjoyed it immensely.

The How:

The film was gritty and shot without a slick feel of production that, maybe without realizing it, I've come to expect.  This was clearly deliberate and it created a conscious effect of a dirty, uneducated, lower income environment which was a subtext for the movie's message and feel.  There were times it almost felt like a documentary, which added to the sense of realism, and in my mind, this was a powerful and effective choice.

The acting was superlative and the folks getting kudos for this deserve the buzz.  It opens with Christian Bale (who everyone knows has chameleon like acting chops) but it took exactly two seconds (before dialogue) to establish him as a twitchy, nervous, strung out guy with pretty serious issues.   We've all met this manic, irritating, lovable guy at some point in real life, and he nailed it.

Also huge were Amy Adams and Mark Wahlberg.  It was an interesting casting choice for Adams to play the blue collar, college drop out love interest - a pretty big departure from what I've seen her do before, but she seemed believable to me.  If this had been the first thing she had done, I would have assumed she knew it from life experience.  For Wahlberg, I enjoy his understated approach to his roles and it was perfect in this movie.  He's a quiet hero with integrity and he gets to play the straight man that all of the other crazy people are bouncing off of the entire film.  Without him, the dysfunctional family stuff is a Jerry Springer episode... with him at the center, it becomes a powerful, emotional piece of art.

The surrounding characters were also great, with their hair and the greek chorus of sniping dysfunctional comments.  Even in their acting out a particular "type" they didn't seem two dimensional or contrived.  In fact, the dialogue, acting and feel were almost too good, in the sense that this movie is stressful.  If you've ever seen a family freak out (and who hasn't), it rings true and you're feeling it with them.

The What:

This is a movie about relationships.  In all their complexity and dysfunction and warmth and goodness and need for boundaries.  The suprising thing, and great thing about the movie was that Mickie (Wahlberg's character) doesn't do what we're silently yelling at him to do for most of the movie; to tell his crazy family to go away while he chases his dream.

When Bale was walking down the street with his cake, my beautiful date said, "this isn't going to be good" and I responded, "I don't know, maybe."  I was envisioning everything from a true break from the addictive lifestyle of bad decisions, to a return to the drugs in force, to something horrible like a really dramatic suicide.

Can I just say, before we knew the outcome, it was a great moment?

I love not knowing what is going to happen next.  What a great picture of real choice - and of real freedom - and we got to share it. 

Perhaps even more powerful was the porch scene between Adams and Bale where humility, forgiveness, grace and a genuine request for second chances give us the heart of the film.  The line, "I'm trying to build something here..." followed by the, "I am too." just resonated through the entire room.

What we realize is that all of the characters are, in some sense, The Fighter.  Flawed, not having realized their potential, tired and somewhat bitter, they still press on in their own (sometimes weird) ways.  The last speech that Bale gives to Wahlberg in the last fight scene juxtaposes the two, and when he goes back out, he isn't just fighting for the title.

He's fighting for his life and the hope that things don't have to end badly.  He's fighting for a sense of purpose and redemption and love and meaning and a place where past mistakes don't finalize our lives.  He's fighting for the part of us that dares to dream and that knows deep on the inside that we're capable of more.  Definitely worth some oscar nods - and definitely worth seeing with someone you love and want to talk to afterwards with a tasty beverage.

Thoughts on True Grit

The How:

Love 'em or hate 'em, the Coen Brothers know how to make a film.  Beautifully shot, there is an epic background and feel to everything that is going on.  It's a nice counterpoint to characters that are larger than life, especially Rooster.  Somehow a painting of this crazy old man ought to be on a huge canvas.

Matt Damon won't get the praise he deserves for this one.  His "Texas" accent was spot on (from someone who grew up in Texas and Oklahoma, he nailed a north Texas accent in terms of flavor and pacing).  Not taking anything away from Bridges, or Steinfield (she deserves an oscar in my opinion), but Damon was really great as a boring straight man in this movie.  He's a chameleon who can even sublimate his presence and genius to serve the role.  I think his potrayal and execution really set up Bridges and Steinfield to be even better.

Another consistent hallmark of Coen brother's stuff is the "odd moment" that they sprinkle in here and there for relief and comic effect.  It rings true, because those things happen in life and while they don't have anything to do with the actual narrative, they are marvelous and provide a resonance that we understand and appreciate.

In True Grit, the scenes with the trapper / doctor and when Rooster is demonstrating his shooting skill with cornbread, completely hammered, were both just hysterical.

Well acted, well shot, incredibly well written, this was a movie that was finely crafted and showcases what a film can be in terms of polyphonic art.

The What:

This was a movie about true grit.

That is less of a cop out than it might appear at first glance.  There is a sense of character, resilence in the face of opposition, perserverance and courage which is a combination of those things, but isn't quite captured by any single word seperately.  It's more than "heart", or "gravitas" or any characterization I can readily think of, sort of a moving courage in action that can rise to an occasion of greatness.

Here's the thing, every major character on the protagonist side has it.  The little girl is just indomitable in her spirit and her desire for justice.  When she, without hesitation, spurs her horse into the river to not be left behind, there was real danger there... but she simply wouldn't be denied.

LaBoef was the one I had the most fun thinking about.  He has great, even legendary western hero moments, where he draws on four men, despite the overwhelming odds of that situation... not giving up, even after being shot and wounded in the encounter.  And of course, in the end where he makes the rifle shot to save Rooster, it just seems right that he do so.  The fascinating thing to me and it's a subtle move, if you just listed the things that he did - he would sound like Achilles mixed with Wyatt Earp.  Actually, he's in the background for the most part and somehow smaller than life, in spite of his actions.

And Rooster, with reins in his teeth, like justice incarnate and lightning in his hands, riding down like a storm on the gang that kidnapped Mattie... and later in the wild ride / run to save her life, he displays a perserverance beyond simple human endurance.  True Grit, great heart... and they were captured and recounted to us over and over.

They're all flawed.  Mattie is proud and overbearing, not seeing at all that her perspective should ever be adjusted in the least.  LaBoef is honorable, but not very bright despite his education, Rooster is a drunk, is selfish and mean spirited and that list could probably go on for some time.

But when it counts, and push comes to shove, would you want any of these people on your team or not?

I would.  Everyday and twice on Sunday, if it came down to it.  There is something really beautiful about true grit in a situation with great need, even if these are not people you'd want to have dinner with on a regular basis.

Of the oscar contenders I've seen sofar, this is the one I'll buy the DVD of and watch again and again.