Warrior: Ensemble Cast Excel in Male Melodrama

Far superior to the wildly overpraised The Fighter, which unsuccessfully blended family drama with sports movie cliche, but failed because it never reconciled its broad, caricatures with the bravura of Christian Bale, Warrior excels for wonderful performances across the board. Every actor in this ensemble knows exactly what movie they're in. 

Tom Hardy (Left) & Joel Edgerton (Right)

The ensemble shine in a male melodrama that happens to be a good sports movie too. It tells the story of two feuding brothers, Brendan (Joel Edgerton) and Tommy (Tom Hardy), harbor lifelong grudges against their alcoholic father Paddy (Nick Nolte) and each other. Fate brings them all together in a Mixed Martial Arts tournament that awards a $5 million dollar prize and the possibility of redemption.

Warrior won't win prizes for originality, but it asks us if originality is the key to a good movie? It seeks to be a familiar story well told, and succeeds. Simply because the actors elevate the material with their honesty. Not a single moment in Warrior rings false. Don't be fooled by the poster; the actors brings as much sensitivity to the movie as they do muscles. In fact, the challenge for them is to hint at the mess of emotions underneath their tough exterior. Who truly shines though, is Nick Nolte. Worthy of all the acclaim. He is terrific as the bad Dad come good Dad.

My Dad is a man's man. He saw this movie three times on a flight home. I can imagine he was lured by the sports aspect, but ultimately moved. Therein lies what I love about the film; it's not really about sports. The MMA tournament gives the brothers to opportunity to duke it out, but its secondary. It only brings to the surface what was inside them all along; the capacity to truly forgive, but then there's enough sports movie cliche to perpetuate the male fantasy that good old fashioned competition can settle any matters of the heart. It keeps Dads happy.

The movie is long, but that's not an observation not a criticism. The way it builds (and builds) recalls The Karate Kid. This is a movie that whats you to live-in the movie. We all know where its headed, but after investing so deeply in the characters the outcome of the final fight is riveting even if we have to turn away from the screen wincing from the sight of dislocated shoulders.