The Fighter | Rotten Tomatoes

The Fighter

R

Released Dec 17, 2010

1 hr. 56 min.

Drama

Biography

TRAILER

for The Fighter: Trailer 1

List

91%

255 Reviews

Tomatometer

89%

100,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

For Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), boxing is a family affair. His tough-as-nails mother is his manager. His half-brother, Dicky (Christian Bale), once a promising boxer himself, is his very unreliable trainer. Despite Micky's hard work, he is losing and, when the latest fight nearly kills him, he follows his girlfriend's advice and splits from the family. Then Micky becomes a contender for the world title and he -- and his family -- earns a shot at redemption.

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Premiered Mar 27

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Critics Consensus

Led by a trio of captivating performances from Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, and Amy Adams, The Fighter is a solidly entertaining, albeit predictable, entry in the boxing drama genre.

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kevin k

ABSOLUTELY, one of the WORST films EVER!!!! The character played by Christian Bale is putrid and makes me want to throw up!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BOTH the character and the portrayal are ABSOLUTELY PATHETIC!!!!! One of the WORST FILMS -->> EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mark Wahlburg / Amy Adams - YOU should NOT have been involved with this TERRIBLE film!!! Christian Bale - YOU should be ASHAMED of yourself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/18/24

Full Review

Alok K

After a long time Hritik looked same intense in a patriotic movie like lakshya. This movies has all the right things for a patriotic movies. Thanks for making such movies. Excellent way to film our modern brave soldiers saving our country day in day out. All the cast members are above par in acting. Anil Kapoor is same charismatic. Hritik Roshan has shown that he still has years left. A come back movie for him. Worth watching this movies specially with kids. Has right humor that soldiers share. Deepika Padukone is looking great as a Squadron leade role. The filmmakers should always dedicate movies each year for the soldiers.Air Force - Proud of you

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/28/24

Full Review

Artorius B

Not very inspireing or unique Drama about a Boxer from the lover working clans who tries to get big while his disfunctional family tries it's best to help, but actually is an obstacle. Also, his brothers drugaddiction is overshadowing and complicating familylife, a very moralistic and not very convincing "Don't do Drugs" Massage is delivered here... Qll in All, a very weak Story with quite good actors, but their acting can't help this quite boring movie to shine or spark interest. Everything is very predictable and this kind of "working class boy is making it" - Story allready had it's peak with the first Rocky-movie, which btw. Was 3times more authentic and touching then this quite soulless Hollywood-output.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/26/24

Full Review

Timothy S

A fun to watch and well acted film. The fact that Dicky Ward thought that HBO was making a movie about his 'comeback' when it was really about "Crack" is one of the fun parts.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/06/24

Full Review

M H

A great movie that gets a great true story about Mickey ward out there to the public. Christian Bale was excellent, just like he always is. Mark Wahlberg, did Wahlberg things, but in a movie about a gruff Boston fighter, it works just fine

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

12/23/23

Full Review

Kathryn V

Just watched it for the second time. Excellent true story. Christian Bale always amazed me, falls right into any role for an English guy.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/15/23

Full Review

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David O. Russell

Director

Mark Wahlberg

Micky Ward

Christian Bale

Dicky Eklund

Amy Adams

Charlene Fleming

Melissa Leo

Alice Ward

Jack McGee

George Ward

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The Fighter: Official Clip - Micky Fights Sanchez

2:05

The Fighter: Official Clip - Making Things Right

2:13

The Fighter: Official Clip - I Thought You Were My Mother Too

1:53

The Fighter: Official Clip - Don't Call Me Skank

1:52

The Fighter: Official Clip - Dickie Sings the Blues

2:13

The Fighter: Official Clip - The Fighting Family

2:02

The Fighter: Official Clip - Dickie Takes the Cake

1:49

The Fighter: Official Clip - That's My Life

1:16

The Fighter: Official Clip - There Wasn't Even Any Good Sex in It

2:13

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The Fighter: Trailer 1

2:24

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Candice Frederick

Reel Talk Online

Overall The Fighter is a touching, soulful knockout of a movie.

Rated: A

Sep 9, 2017

Full Review

Philip French

Guardian

Both Wahlberg and Bale are excellent in their different registers, as are Melissa Leo and Amy Adams as the differently calibrated women.

Feb 7, 2011

Full Review

David Sexton

London Evening Standard

Wahlberg, always so physically solid, is deep inside himself in this role.

Rated: 4/5

Feb 4, 2011

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

The film falls somewhere between bare-knuckle and blue collar, brought to the screen with that docu-style handheld-camera that indie filmmakers so love to use for bracing reality, and Irish family melodrama...

Aug 19, 2023

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Russell displays incredible versatility with The Fighter, leaving his signatures on a film that didn’t start out as his project, but turned into one of the best films of 2010.

Rated: 4/4

Aug 3, 2023

Full Review

Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

"The Fighter" isn’t bad, but it’s disappointingly conventional coming from the mercurial talent David O. Russell.

Rated: B-

Oct 4, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

For Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), boxing is a family affair. His tough-as-nails mother is his manager. His half-brother, Dicky (Christian Bale), once a promising boxer himself, is his very unreliable trainer. Despite Micky's hard work, he is losing and, when the latest fight nearly kills him, he follows his girlfriend's advice and splits from the family. Then Micky becomes a contender for the world title and he -- and his family -- earns a shot at redemption.

Director: David O. Russell
Executive Producer: Tucker Tooley, Darren Aronofsky, Leslie Varrelman, Keith Dorrington, Eric Johnson
Screenwriter: Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Mandeville Films, Closest to the Hole, Relativity
Rating: R (Language Throughout|Drug Content|Sexuality|Some Violence)
Genre: Drama, Biography
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 17, 2010, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $93.6M
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital, DTS

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