Warrior, 2011.
Directed by Gavin O’Connor.
Starring Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Morrison and Nick Nolte.
SYNOPSIS:
Two brothers find themselves on a collision course in the biggest ‘winner takes all’ Mixed Martial Arts event in history.
It would seem that about every year or so we get an inspirational sports movie. Some usually do the same tired thing we’ve seen a thousand times before while others do things we’ve seen before but in a really spectacular way. Which way does Warrior try and test its luck with?
We start with Tommy Conlon (Tom Hardy); he’s recently returned home and visits his father Paddy, played wonderfully by Nick Nolte, who he hasn’t seen in about fourteen years. He wants his dad to help him train to fight in a mixed martial arts tournament coming up soon. Paddy reluctantly accepts to try and help his boy as well as possibly grow closer with him since he’s been out of his life for so long. On the other side of the movie we have Brendan (Joel Edgerton), a down on his luck school teacher who tries to make some extra cash in mixed martial arts fights so his family and him won’t lose their house. Eventually he gets a trainer to help him get ready for the same tournament his brother Tommy is participating in. Even though Brendan is an underdog he lays it all out every time he fights and this sets him up to eventually have to go toe to toe with his own brother.
What I really enjoyed about this movie was the acting. All three main actors in this movie do one hell of a job and give it their all just as their characters do in their own situations. Tom Hardy is starting to make a great name for himself. After a good job in Inception and now this we can only assume he’ll be great in the next Batman movie. I haven’t been too familiar with Joel Edgerton before this movie but I have to say that he too is quite the actor. Every time both of them are on screen you just get so wrapped up in their stories that you can’t help but stay glued to the screen. As for Nick Nolte, I honestly haven’t seen him do much better than he does here. He gives a really great performance, one that, at times, will tear you up inside.
The way the stories throughout this movie are told is another great part of the movie. At first it’s a little off putting because it just feels like two different stories going on at the same time that have nothing to do with each other. But once then do cross paths it gets even better and continues strong through the rest of the movie. Seeing this was directed by the same guy who directed Miracle, it doesn’t surprise me that he makes the story so enthralling. His ability to combine heavy handed drama with some of the most intense fight sequences in any movie in quite some time is definitely another highlight of the movie.
There isn’t much more I can say about Warrior that I haven’t already said. It’s great in all the right places and while it does feel familiar at times, it turns right around and does something that you more than likely haven’t seen in any movie before.
Jake Peffer
Originally published January 25, 2012. Updated April 10, 2018.
