Warrior Review

[Westside Steve]

Warrior

Lionsgate

PG 13 139 min

 

A couple thoughts before I get on to the movie…

First of all boxing (and baseball) is the perfect sport for a film. It’s that man to man showdown pitting one against another and the history that runs through the fabric of American history that makes it all seem magic.

Two, Sylvester Stallone and ROCKY have set that bar pretty damn high. It’s impossible not to draw comparisons to the modern day classic.

Three, yes I understand that this ultimate martial arts thing is a real sport and the participants are world class athletes, but at the risk of offending the fans, but like surfing or skateboarding, I just can’t take it seriously. Sorry. Still it’s close enough to work in a similar situation.

Anyway I had high expectations for this one for a few reasons. There’s the subject matter featuring three tales of redemption, the underdog thread and a serious role for old favorite Nick Nolte. Oh and these guys are Irish; a sure way to a Mick’s heart.

So this is a class production, serious and well-acted and it . has a great gritty look and feel. I should have loved it and I’m almost embarrassed to admit I didn’t.

Actually I think the entire production lacks charisma. I never felt the bond with any of the three main characters like I (and the world) did with Stallone’s Rocky Balboa.

Those characters are two estranged brothers and father Brendan, Tommy and Paddy Conley ( Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte) who are to be thrown together in a lucrative fight tournament.

Brendan is a schoolteacher up against financial hardship, Tommy a heroic yet AWOL marine and Paddy a recovering drunk who abandoned his family years ago.

From the outset I was uncomfortable with the family dynamic.

Why, given the deep seated animosity would Tommy ask the old man to train him for the tourney and then proceed to resist him the entire time? Not to mention that Paddy really seemed to have no input as to the training, or at least not enough to warrant his inclusion. The reasons for the vitriol (like most of the background story) weren’t set up to my satisfaction. We know them but they were under dramatized as I see it.

For example two guys who haven’t participated in this style of fighting sail through the world class lineup of competitors.

With the exception of one scene in which Nolte falls off the wagon, the acting is underplayed, assumedly to add to the veneer of realism. Since Edgerton and Hardy are relative unknowns it was harder to empathize with either.

Of course I overlooked a few of the clichés (Brendan’s wife’s opposition and later epiphany) since, as they say, there’s nothing really new under the sun.

WARRIOR fell a little short of my expectations but should be a hit with the post ROCKY audiences.

C+

WSS

 

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