Sigh. Where oh where do I begin with this film? I suppose the most important thing to say to introduce this review is to point out that the trailer is a completely accurate representation of the movie, and while I thought it gave away too much of the plot, it turns out I was completely wrong.One thinks, going into these sporting movies that it's all going to be the same note. Come on, you know...montages, incredibly cheesy familial reconciliations, nothing really cataclysmic going down, but Warrior? Warrior will knock you on your ASS if you have any experience whatsoever with any of its themes in your own personal life. Even if you haven't been through anything like it, or known anyone who's been through it, it's likely you will be incredibly moved.
The key to this movie is the dynamic between Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton and Nick Nolte, who play an estranged threesome of brothers and father. The exact moment that drove the family apart isn't exactly exposed, but the gist of it is easily found. Tom Hardy especially gives a massively powerful performance. Nearly every frame he's on screen is filled with a seething rage. It's like a disease or something that's totally taken over his body and his mind that causes him to be dedicated and hardworking yet incredibly spiteful and violent. Considering the crux of the film is a giant UFC fight, this works well with the tone of the film. Edgerton is the other side of the coin. His performance is full of regret and sorrow over the decisions he made as a teenage boy. He has a family to protect, he has responsibilities that he faces down, whereas Hardy has issues following through with his "duty". And man oh man does Nolte ever shine in this. He plays a recovering alcoholic attempting to forge SOME sort of bridge with is two sons who are at odds with each other. He's constantly listening to an audio book of Melville's "Moby Dick", and there is a singularly amazing scene when he's listening to it on headphones during the competition in his hotel room screaming "Why Ahab, WHY? Why didn't you just give up the WHALE?!" To say what also occurs during this scene would be giving too much away, but needless to say because of my own life experiences I was absolutely bawling my eyes out during the scene.
The three lead men play so well off of each other, it's almost as if it isn't a movie, but an actual theatre production. Nothing feels forced. Barely anything actually FEELS scripted. There's an authenticity there that just isn't really seen much. Authenticity and vulnerability. These big, tough men who all basically want to be loved and respected and they want their family back. All of them wanting the same thing but also fighting against it. All of them with broken hearts.
Hardy's character, Tommy is an "ex"-military man (a twist regarding this plot line that I did NOT see coming also brought a whole other level of drama to the film, and also of understanding on behalf of Tommy), and the only time you really see him smile the whole film is when he's talking to the widow of a good friend of his. The purse for the tournament is massive, and he tells her he's going to give all the money to her when he wins...this is his way of asking for absolution even though she loves him, and believes there is nothing to forgive.
I must say the "final fight" or ultimate climax of the film is pretty much one of the best 20 minutes of sport-related film I've ever seen. The close angles, the claustrophobia, the pain that you literally feel thrown at you at every turn of the camera is visceral and made my heart race the whole time. I wasn't really "rooting" for any one man. I merely wanted them to heal. They had both done bad things, both made mistakes, but they were the kind of mistakes one can't really apologize for. Life just happened...to them, around them. It chewed them up and spit them out and this fight is more about them sticking it to life than to one another. The truth is they just want each other back. Tommy doesn't want to carry his hatred around anymore. He wants to leave it in the ring and move on and he does just that.
...Love. When it comes right down to it, this movie is about love. And how no matter what, we always have to fight for it. It doesn't just come to us, or bless us. We have to fight to keep it with us. We have to fight for our love, for our families, for our lives. The final few frames are just incredible. I sobbed. I mean it. I physically sobbed in my empty theatre (and thank god for that because I was a hot mess). It was just...awe-inspiring. Needless to say this has been one of the best movies I've seen all year and I've highly recommended it to everyone I know who loves movies. It's not an easy movie to sit through by any means, but damn, is it ever worth every second of it.
