- Film Review
- Reviewed By Adam Smith
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5 out of 5
Based on the career of welterweight boxing champ "Irish" Micky Ward, this rousing crowd-pleaser stars Mark Wahlberg as the fighter whose unlikely career took him from the working-class streets of Lowell, Massachusetts, to the heights of pugilistic fame. Director David O Russell expertly handles the shift from gritty realism to a triumph-against-the-odds Hollywood finale that really does justice to the story, delivering kinetic, exciting fight sequences and a peppering of humour along the way. Oscar-winning Christian Bale is a mass of crazy energy as Dicky Eklund, Micky's drug-addled half-brother and coach, who's determined to relive his own past success in the ring through his sibling. But it's Wahlberg's lower-key performance as the good-natured scrapper torn between family loyalty and a desire to take a shot at glory on his own terms that is the movie's real, and utterly irresistible, heart. This is easily the most shamelessly enjoyable boxing flick since Rocky.
Plot Summary
Oscar-winning biographical drama starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale and Amy Adams. Welterweight boxer "Irish" Micky Ward dreams of a shot at the big time, but loyalty to his dysfunctional family - particularly Dicky, his drug-addicted half-brother and coach - threatens to block his path to greatness.
Cast and crew
Cast
- "Irish" Micky Ward
- Mark Wahlberg
- Dicky Eklund
- Christian Bale
- Charlene Fleming
- Amy Adams
- Alice Ward
- Melissa Leo
- George Ward
- Jack McGee
- Alfonso Sanchez
- Miguel Espino
- Mike "Machine Gun" Mungin
- Peter Cunningham
- Shea Neary
- Anthony Molinari
- Castillo
- Anthony "Ace" Thomas
- Sugar Ray Leonard
- Sugar Ray Leonard
- Mickey O'Keefe
- Mickey O'Keefe
Crew
- Director
- David O Russell
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