Review: Warrior

Plot: When physics teacher and ex-MMA fighter Brendan Conlon (Joel Edgerton) finds himself deeply in debt and in danger of losing his home, he turns to fighting again as a means to make money. With the help of former trainer Frank Campana (Frank Grillo) Brendan hopes to return to form and salvage his life. However, financial concerns aren't Brendan's only issues. Brendan is estranged from an alcoholic and abusive father (Nick Nolte) he can't forgive, his wife Tess (Jennifer Morrison) is dead set against him getting back in the ring, and his high school administrators aren't exactly enthusiastic about Brendan's exploits inside the octagon. Further complicating matters is the return of Brendan's Marine brother Tommy Riordan (Tom Hardy) who he hasn't seen in fourteen years. Unlike Brendan, Tommy's desire to fight is driven purely by rage...and a haunted past. When both brothers enter the first ultimate MMA event, Sparta, with a $5 million payday on the line, Tommy and Brendan are in for a physical and emotional reckoning.

Review: One of the perils of being a film critic is the tendancy to get jaded. Let's be honest Hollywood churns out more crap in one calendar year than all of New Jersey's sewage treatment plants combined. And I'm not evening counting Adam Sandler's latest non-funny cinema foray.

However, what you also live for as a movie critic is what I like to call the GBF; the Goose Bump Factor. Every once an awhile you'll see a trailer that ignites the Goose Bump Factor. The last time it happened to me was in May, when I saw the preview Warrior. Of course there's an ocean of distance between a successful trailer and a successful film as anyone who has seen I Am Legend might attest. There is always the possibility of being crushed by the boulder of disappointment.

I was never even touched by a pebble.

Every major sport seems to have an iconic movie(s) associated with it. Baseball has The Natural (among many others), basketball has Hoosiers, football has North Dallas Forty, and boxing has Rocky. I can easily say that MMA now has Warrior.

However, it would be disingenuous to say that Warrior is merely a sports movie. Granted the fight scenes are excellent at showing not only the violence of the sport but also how out thinking an opponent can often overcome physical restrictions. Brute strength doesn't always win the day. You can credit the success of the fight scenes to cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi who does a masterful job throughout Warrior.

Warrior at its heart is about the dynamic between father and sons and between brothers. Warrior could have easily degenerated into a fight a minute blood fest but director Gavin O'Connor puts the focus of Warrior exactly where it is supposed to be: on Tommy, Brendan, and Paddy. While the idea of an abusive alcoholic father, a son who was Dad's golden boy, and another son who could never get his father's attention seem like trite and overused plot points, screenwriters Gavin O'Connor, Cliff Dorfman, and Anthony Tambakis breathe new life into old tropes. The result is an engaging and emotional story that satisfies from the opening title to the closing credits.

Despite the superb script and excellent cinematography, Warrior would not work without the high quality of acting in this movie. Tom Hardy is a revelation as the brooding and rage driven Tommy. The Inception star and future Dark Knight Rises villain exhibits a method driven masterpiece Marlon Brando would be proud of. Although Tommy seems to care about nothing but fighting as an outlet for his rage, Warrior eventually reveals that Tommy's real motivation lies with his troubled past involving his Mom's cancer and his exploits in the Marine corps. The scenes with his father Paddy (played brilliantly here by Nick Nolte) are captivating whether it is the opening scene at Paddy's apartment, to an emotional confrontation in Tommy's hotel room at Sparta. Tommy sees Paddy as just a worn down drunk who beat his mother and drove her away, and Brendan as an older brother who bailed on him for Tess.

Equally as good, if not better, is Joel Edgerton as Brendan Conlon. While Tommy can't forgive Paddy for being a drunk and a wife beater, Brendan can't forgive Paddy for loving Tommy more than him. Yet being in his younger brother's shadow doesn't overwhelm Edgerton's performance. The Australian actor's character fights solely for family and money, not rage. Despite his own troubled childhood, Brendan sees family as the most important thing in a man's life...and worth fighting for. Edgerton instills a sense of honor in Brendan's character that is at once recognizable and relateable. Both facets come across most poignantly when Paddy shows up at Brendan's house to tell him that Tommy has come home. The scene is at once riveting, heartbreaking, and brimming with truth.

I've thought a long time about how to sum up my final feelings about Warrior. Although Rocky came out two years before I was even born, I can only think that this must have been what moviegoers felt like when the credits rolled and they finally left the theater after watching the film that made Sylvester Stallone a household name. The final scenes in Warrior were so brimming with emotion that I doubt anyone in the theater had a dry eye, myself included.

Warrior is easily the best film I've seen so far in 2011 and a worthy edition to the lexicon of iconic sports films.

My rating: 10/10