★★★★☆
18 September 2011
This article is a review of WARRIOR. |
I never thought I’d nearly blub at the end of a movie about cage fighting. It’s emotional, sentimentally and manipulatively so, but I fell for it. When the proceedings are this well acted and the soppiness honed, it is hard to resist. That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking with it.
“Not much of a woman's touch around here,” Tommy Conlon (Tom Hardy)
“No women for me anymore, Tommy,” Paddy Conlon (Nick Nolte)
“Yeah. Must be tough to find a girl who could take a punch nowadays,” Tommy
“Not much of a woman's touch around here,” Tommy Conlon (Tom Hardy)
“No women for me anymore, Tommy,” Paddy Conlon (Nick Nolte)
“Yeah. Must be tough to find a girl who could take a punch nowadays,” Tommy
Immediately we are launched into a heavy family reunion. Tommy hasn’t been back home in 14 years. We’re not sure yet why, perhaps to excise some demons, to confront his abusive father Paddy. Paddy though is not the same man; riddled with contrition and nearly 1000 days sober. He has also found God. Though this is a ROCKY-like film about underdogs and inspirational journeys, WARRIOR goes beyond the Stallone pop-culture benchmark, and touches on ideas such as: whether a born-again Christian deserves our forgiveness, quiet criticism of the war in Iraq, a lambasting of the health care system, and portrayal of an unmerciful banking system. It seems George Bush, Jr.’s terms were not popular with the filmmakers; and instead of making a kitchen-sink drama they have gone done the route of wrapping their messages in the veneer of entertainment. To quote Mary Poppins, “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.”
“That's Tess. And that's Emily and Rosie. They're your nieces, Tommy,” Brendan Conlon (Joel Edgerton)
“Don't know 'em,” Tommy
“I know you don't know them. Of course you don't know them,” Brendan
“Why am I looking at pictures of people I don't know?” Tommy
“Because that's my family,” Brendan
“And who are you exactly?” Tommy
“I'm your brother, man,” Brendan
“You were in the Corps?” Tommy
“What?” Brendan
“I said I didn't know you were in the Corps,” Tommy
“I wasn't in the Corps,” Brendan
“Then you ain't no brother to me. My brother was in the Corps,” Tommy
Passion runs high throughout the 140 minute runtime (the length of which goes unnoticed). The two estranged brothers only share a mutual animosity towards their father; oh yeah, and an incredible ability at mixed martial arts, entering the sport’s top tournament for reasons beyond ambition. In many ways this reminds me of one of my favourite films of the year so far, THE FIGHTER – a tale about family as much as about combat. The Conlons are well drawn, aided by mesmerizing turns: violence bubbles under the surface of Hardy, creating a palpable tension (I can’t wait to see what he does with Bane in next year’s THE DARK KNIGHT RISES!); Edgerton in two cracking films in one year (the other, Aussie crime saga ANIMAL KINGDOM) adds the beating heart to the film with so much on the line – livelihood and home; and Nolte epitomising a guilt ridden patriarch trying to pursue forgiveness for the wrongs he has done. The characters are also at times cyphers for the themes of choices, compassion and single-mindedness – the latter portrayed both positively and destructively.
WARRIOR is a step up from director Gavin O’Connor’s cops and kinfolk thriller PRIDE AND GLORY, exploring similar refrains in a more polished way. The film signposts far ahead in the journey just about its entire plot, but the alchemy of its ingredients hooks you.