The film year started with a fight movie, THE FIGHTER, and looks set to end on another bona fide classic of the genre.
WARRIOR(M) begins with recovering alcoholic Paddy Conlon (Nick Nolte) listening to an audio book of MOBY DICK after attending Mass. At home, he is accosted and berated by his son, Tommy (Tom Hardy) from whom he has been estranged more than a dozen years. It’s a dazzling scene setting up character, relationship and back story in a stunning synergy of writing, staging and performance. It sets the tone and momentum of this monumentally powerful film.
The reason for Tommy’s reunion is not reconciliation but to enlist his father to train him for a shot at Sparta, the biggest winner- take -all event in mixed martial arts.
Meanwhile, Tommy’s brother, Brendan (Joel Edgerton) is finding it hard to make ends meet on his meagre school teacher salary and unbeknownst to his estranged sibling and father, has decided to enter the event also.
This sets up the inevitable clash and confrontation that powerfully puts the max into climax.
Director Gavin O’Connor returns to the generational saga he so richly mined in his last film, PRIDE AND GLORY, and has created an even grittier, bolder, and satisfying film about familial frailty, fragility and fidelity.
The screenplay by O’Connor, Anthony Tambakis and Cliff Dorfman is beautifully layered with surprising plot twists, multi-faceted characters and splendidly rendered dialogue.
The three leads are magnificent – especially Aussie Joel Edgerton now a major contender on the international screen- with uniformly superb support by a stellar cast, particularly Frank Grillo as Brendan’s coach, Frank, who boosts Brendan for battle with Beethoven, and Jennifer Morrison as Brendan’s wife, Tess.
As with all good fight films, the film editing has to be as cutting edge as direction and performance. A gang of four cut this picture – Sean Albertson who punched out ROCKY BALBOA, John Gilroy and Aaron Marshall who worked on PRIDE AND GLORY, and Matt Chesse, Academy Award nominee for FINDING NEVERLAND.
WARRIOR IS A KNOCKOUT!
(C) Richard Cotter
Tags: WARRIOR, Gavin O’Connor, Nick Nolte, Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, Anthony Tambakis, Cliff Dorfman, Frank Grillo, Jennifer Morrison, Sean Albertson, John Gilroy, Aaron Marshall, Matt Cheese, mixed martial arts, fight classic