Warrior

A lot of people probably aren't going to be interested in seeing Warrior because of the basic premise - two brothers training and fighting in a mixed martial arts tournament.  One is an ex-marine war hero, the other a physics teacher father of two.  Both are desperate, angry, damaged men with painful pasts and family history.  And while the focus is on the tournament, and the fighting, the movie is neither glorifying nor glossing over the brutality of the sport.

And the beauty of the movie is that all of the training, and fighting are the only way these two men know how to survive.  Tom Hardy plays Tommy Conlon, the ex-marine younger brother who is carrying around so much anger and resentment that you can see getting in the ring is the only thing keeping him from burning to a cinder on his rage.  Hardy barely speaks during the movie, and yet we understand completely the fury and guilt driving his every punch.  Joel Edgerton plays the older brother Brendan Conlon, a retired UFC fighter drawn back in to the ring in a desperate attempt to hold on to his house and the quiet family life he first left it for.  He has the thick facial structure of someone capable of taking any hit thrown his way, but his eyes betray pain and feelings of inadequacy he carries from a childhood playing second fiddle to his brother.  Both brothers (and their father, played by Nick Nolte) are estranged, caught up in a fractured family dynamic with edges still too sharp to smooth over.  The details of the past are rarely mentioned, and yet body language and facial expressions communicate exactly what happened in a way no words could.

Despite previews revealing that the final match is between the brothers, each victory in the tournament is as nail biting and triumphant as if we were unaware of the outcome, and the final bout takes such an emotional toll that the audience feels almost as battered as the fighters.  I expected this movie to be exhilarating and exciting; I didn't expect it to be heartbreaking as well.  If you can stand the violence (there is no overt blood or shattering of bones, but it is still men beating each other senseless) then this is a definite must see.  An expertly crafted story enhanced by acting from two men we will no doubt be seeing a lot in the future.


Warrior 2hrs PG-13