[1557] THE FIGHTER- Yesterday I was reading the movie critics and I found out that the movie ‘The Fighter’ was the story of Mickey Ward- a fighter I have watched my whole life [been a boxing fan forever]. So I told the girls ‘let's go see the movie’ and we loved it. The movie is rated R- by the way ‘my girls’ are all older- the youngest is 18- oldest 25. But the movie told the story of Mickey ward and his brother Dick Eglund. The movie had ‘a movie’ within it- they showed how HBO did a documentary on Dick Eglund- following him and filming him. The documentary was on crack addiction in Lowell mass. [their hometown] and I remember watching it one night at the fire house- was surprised to see Mickey wards brother in the documentary- that’s why I remember it. The movie follows the story of Mickey’s dysfunctional family- and how his brother- once a great fighter himself- was Mickey’s trainer. His mom was his manager- they took advantage of Mickey in a way. Eventually Mickey would get a couple of good breaks and he finally won a title. I was surprised they didn’t cover the 3 great fights Mickey had with Arturo Gatti- the Italian fighter form Jersey City [right around where I grew up]. These 3 fights put Mickey on the map and made him enough money that allowed him to quit his job as a street maintenance worker for the city. I liked the movie a lot- of course I’m boxing fan- so that’s natural. But I think its well worth the 35 dollars [popcorn, tickets, soda for 3- yes at least 35]. I think Christian Bale will get some recognition for his role as Mickey’s crack addicted brother- he stole the show. Mark Walhberg also did a good job as Mickey- but Bale was great. The funny parts of the movie are seeing Mickey’s dysfunctional family- his mom and sisters remind you of watching a Jerry Springer episode- really funny. Okay- enough for now- if you get a chance to see it I think it will be worth the 35 bucks.