Warrior

Director: Gavin O'Connor
Cast: Tom Hary, Joeld Edgerton, Jennifer Morrison and Nick Nolte
Releasing in cinemas: 27 October 2011
Rated: M

Warrior is not quite what you expect; starting gently with folksy music and Moby-Dick read in dulcet tones, as an old man drives home. However there's nothing gentle in what's to come - a struggle between two brothers in a dysfunctional family, one battling for survival as the banks are foreclosing and overseen by a recovering alcoholic father with a bad history. There's a degree of predictability in what follows, yet it's an exciting and emotional experience getting there.

Tommy Conlon (Tom Hardy) returns from 14 years of service as a Marine to seek training by his estranged father Paddy (Nick Nolte) for Sparta, the biggest 'winner takes all' event in mixed martial arts history. When Tommy and his mother escaped the alcoholic and abusive Paddy, his brother Brendon (Joel Edgerton) stayed behind to be close to his high school girlfriend Tess (Jennifer Morrison) whom he later married. There's a brittle truce between Paddy and Tommy as they train together, although communication with Brendon remains dormant.

A former wrestling prodigy, Tommy knocks out his opponents in short order. Brendon, an ex-fighter now a mild-mannered physics teacher at the local high school, is forced to return to the ring because of financial problems, as the bank threatens to seize his house and his family face eviction. Like Mr.White, the chemistry teacher in Breaking Bad, he has to take desperate measures. Against the odds - “gotta better chance of starting a boy band” - Brendon also rises through the ranks to face the unbeaten Russian giant Koba (Kurt Angle) who is expected to win the tournament. If Brendon succeeds in this bout, he'll have to face his own brother Tommy in the final prize-deciding match.

The strength of Warrior is in the sincere performances of the three main players, along with the bone-crunching realism of the ring fights. Hardy and Edgerton, pitted against professional fighters, both suffered injuries during the six weeks it took to shoot the ring sequences. Nick Nolte (Arthur) seems comfortable playing old defeated men, and goes over the top in a memorable drunk scene, raving against the words of Herman Melville’s great white whale allegory. This is Nolte at his best, he does it warts-and-all and steals the day.

Tom Hardy (Inception) plays the forceful 'knock 'em down quick' Tommy with grim determination. His character trains in grimy conditions and in dark Rembrandt-like lighting. The complete opposite is Joel Edgerton's (Animal Kingdom) thoughtful reading of Brendon, the dedicated teacher in bright clean classrooms, then working out in bright clean gyms to Beethoven's Ninth, that rousing old warhorse getting the most playtime since A Clockwork Orange. The brothers' climatic coming together remains the dramatic highlight, both emotionally and physically. In supporting roles, Jennifer Morrison (Star Trek) as Brendon's ever-concerned wife Tess, and Frank Grillo (Pride and Glory) as Brendon's friend and trainer Frank Campana, both fully earn their pay cheques.

Co-writer/director Gavin O'Connor (Pride and Glory) knows his fight game and gives the required degree of painful realism to the critical three bouts of the film. The camera at times has minor convulsions in closer shots, but overall the coverage of the fights is impressive. Just one of those punches look like they could kill - how anyone can last a round in such bouts remains the mystery. Fortunately O'Connor backs up the fight scenes with excellent cast performances, so the emotional family story isn't overshadowed.

The moral is that families may overcome huge misfortune, albeit with pain in the process of being brought back together, through the triumph of the spirit and bonds hard to break especially between brothers. It's not quite up with The Wrestler, but Warrior (even if predictable) has more going for it than you might expect, and deserves to be alongside the more impressive fight films which date back to Requiem for a Heavyweight and Rocky. 

John Bale