David O. Russell’s The Fighter is one of the films that has been on my radar for some time.  It was once set to be in the hands of Darren Aronofsky, but ended up with O. Russell who should do the story justice. The film tells the story of “Irish” Micky Ward, portrayed by Mark Wahlberg, as a boxer brought about by his half-brother and trainer Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale).  Dicky had a history of crime and drug abuse but came to aid Micky’s run through a career of pugilism that lasted throughout the mid-’80s and ’90s.  Ward is best remembered for his epic trilogy of brawls with the now deceased and notorious bleeder Arturo Gotti. Two of those fights are remembered as fights of the year in their respective years and are among the greatest in the history of the sport. Amy Adams, of Sunshine Cleaning and Doubt fame, plays the eventual girlfriend of Ward.  She is a “tough, gritty bartender and former college high-jumper” for whatever that is worth. The Fighter is set punch its way into our hearts next year.

Below we have a look at some photos of the film and characters as well as a few behind the scenes videos of Wahlberg and his workouts in order to capture the Irish legend (my heritage too!) on screen.  Good stuff for fight and film fans alike, I suspect.  The source IamRogue via /film, has a boatload more of pics if interested. As a fan of the sport (used to be a big fan) and films that cover the topic, like Tyson, I eagerly anticipate this one.  The boxing realism, often is a make or break feature of these films and with Ward being the brawler that he was (he loved to fight on the inside and was regularly bloodied as a result), this will be interesting to see how O. Russell (Three Kings) handles it. Because I want you to truly enjoy this post, I even left you a classic Marky Mark workout video at the end.  Shredded and hilarious. Out.