Warrior (2011)

Director:  Gavin O'Connor

Warrior is the kind of movie that I wish had been made about 15 years ago so that it could have received the attention it deserved.  However, that would be impossible considering how the story draws from our current social and economic climates to create a tale of resurgence, redemption, and rebirth through an intimate look at brotherhood and father-son relationships (all centered around the world of Mixed Martial Arts fighting competitions, oddly enough). 

The movie works because the actors give 110%.  Tom Hardy (who will play Bane in Dark Knight Rises) has the showcase role of Tommy Reardon, a troubled ex-Marine.  He's like a literal raging bull in and out of the fighting ring.  For Hardy, this is truly a star-making role and the kind of performance I can imaging college-age guys watching and idolizing for years to come.  Joel Edgerton plays Tommy's estranged brother Brendan Conlon.  They haven't spoken in years either to each other or to their drunken father, played by Nick Nolte.  We don't know much about what happened in their past or why they have such seething resentment and hatred for their father, but we know that there must have been some major breaking point that caused the distance within the family.  The audience is never given details, but I didn't find the details necessary.  The real story isn't what has happened in the past but how these guys find the ability to get through the challenges they are currently facing. 

If you've seen the movie's trailer, you know that it all comes down to a face off in the ring between the two brothers with dad watching in the crowd.  The emotion is real.  Director Gavin O'Connor (he did the hockey movie Miracle, which is super) knows that a "sports" movie is nothing without the emotional attachment to the characters.  What drives people through execution of great performance in sports is usually what baggage they bring with them. 

Warrior gives you the viewer an interesting choice, which brother to root for.  By the end, I found it didn't really matter.  Either way, the actors driving these performances were so spot on that I felt like I was watching something a real event play out on screen.  Forgetting for a moment that this was only fiction...and loving it.  Check it out for yourself.