My next series is about three David O. Russell films: The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, and American Hustle. These aren’t all the films he’s directed, but I think they are the best three and my favorite. I want to clarify something. I don’t know Russell personally, but he seems like a divisive figure. I’ve read some problematic things about him. He’s been accused of sexual assault, and he’s notoriously combative on his sets. Incidents involving him, George Clooney, Lily Tomlin, and Amy Adams (among others) have been well documented. He even put Christopher Nolan in a headlock during a Christmas party back in the early 2000s. As recently as 2025, he sparked controversy by using a slur on the set of his film Madden, and belittled the cast and crew after they voiced objections to the slur.
He’s a problematic figure. There is no question about it. I want to do my best to separate the art from the artist, but I find that hard. However, I will do my best because I love these three films, especially Silver Linings Playbook. It’s also hard to deny these three films’ critical and commercial success. The three films, released between 2010 and 2013, garnered 25 Academy Award nominations, including five for Russell (three for directing, one for original screenplay, and one for adapted screenplay), and took home three awards. Additionally, both Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle were nominated for “The Big Five” at the Academy Awards (Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor, Actress) and nominations in all four acting categories. A rare feat on its own, his films achieved that twice.
I am ready to start the post with that out of the way. I am going to begin with The Fighter. I recognize that The Fighter isn’t Russell’s first film. Of the four films Russell directed before The Fighter (Spanking the Monkey, Flirting with Disaster, Three Kings, and I Heart Huckabees), I’ve only seen Three Kings. I didn’t love it, but I recognize its artistic merits. Beginning with The Fighter, Russell knocks it out of the park three times in a row, so that’s where I will start. Let’s begin.
While The Fighter focuses heavily on boxing, it is about family and the love and obligations that come with being a part of one. It centers on Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), a stepping-stone boxer, and his relationships with his addict and former boxing champ brother, Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale), his overbearing mom (Melissa Leo), and his high-spirited girlfriend (Amy Adams). All four performances are excellent, but Bale’s supporting turn as Eklund is superb. However, we’ll get to that later. Also, a spoiler alert is in effect.
A film based on the life of Micky Ward had been in development since 2003, when Scout Productions bought the life rights of Ward and Dicky Eklund. Eric Johnson and Paul Tamsasy were hired to write the screenplay. Producer Todd Lieberman revealed in an interview that Eminem, off the success of 8 Mile, was the first choice for the lead role, but he turned it down. Matt Damon was considered for the role before Mark Wahlberg joined the cast in 2005, hoping to bring Ward’s story justice. Paramount Pictures, the film’s distributor, brought in Oscar-nominated writer Paul Attanasio (Quiz Show and Donnie Brasco) to re-write the script, with hopes to start production in February 2007. Mark Wahlberg showed the script to his The Departed director, Martin Scorsese, in hopes of directing. He turned it down, having recently produced the Boston-set The Departed and tackled boxing in Raging Bull. In March 2007, Darren Aronofsky was hired to direct, and 8 Mile Scribe Scott Silver was brought on to rewrite the script.
With Wahlberg set to portray Ward, Matt Damon took on the role of Eklund. However, he dropped out due to scheduling conflicts with other films. Brad Pitt briefly took the role before dropping out and being replaced by Christian Bale. Once Aronofsky and Pitt were out, Wahlberg signed on as a producer to make the film an indie rather than a studio film. Filming was expected to begin in October 2008, but Aronofsky dropped out, initially to tackle the RoboCop remake and later, Black Swan. Wahlberg and Bale chose David O. Russell to take over the film from Aronofsky, who would receive an Executive Producer credit for his contributions. This was the third collaboration between Russell and Wahlberg after Three Kings and I Heart Huckabees.
In April 2009, Relativity Media signed on to fully finance the film. Paramount Pictures would distribute the film domestically and The Weinstein Company (ugh) would handle international distribution. The film began principal photography in Massachusetts in July 2009. Some sources put the budget at $11 million, and others at $25 million. The film used Massachusetts’ film tax credit to fund the movie. The crew filmed mainly in Lowell, where the film is set. The fight scenes featured in the movie were created in significant, choreographed sections taken directly from Ward’s real fights. For the HBO documentary scenes, Russell hired the camera operators from the actual documentaries with the cameras used to replicate the interviews and b-roll footage shot for shot.
Four stellar performances anchor the film. Before I go into it, I want to single out Jack McGee as George Ward, Micky’s father, who must balance doing what’s right for Micky and angering his wife. The scene where he pulls up in his truck to Charlene’s house, witnesses a brawl with family on the porch, slowly reverses his car, and drives away, is one of the funniest scenes in the film. Also worth noting is Mickey O’Keefe, a former Boston Police officer who trains Micky when Dicky is in prison. Interestingly enough, O’Keefe plays himself. The actresses who play all of the Ward/Eklund sisters deserve a shout-out, too. Put them all together, and it is chaos.
I want to first bring up Mark Wahlberg. I generally like Mark Wahlberg movies (like The Other Guys, Ted, and The Italian Job), but I don’t think of him as a great actor. Boogie Nights is one of my favorite films, and although he does a good job, that performance is not even close to being the most memorable or impressive in the film. The Departed is my favorite film of all time, and Wahlberg earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, but I wasn’t too impressed. He notably based the foul-mouthed Lt. Dignam after the Boston police officers who arrested him several times in his youth. The performance is fun, but not necessarily Oscar-worthy, in my opinion. It felt like he was playing a heightened, unhinged version of himself. I think that this film is his best performance. He brings sweetness and sincerity to Micky Ward.
As Ward, Wahlberg has a lot going through his mind. At 31, he feels his time for a championship is passing him by. He fights not only because that’s been his ambition but because he needs the money. Paving streets pays the bills, but the money he wins fighting allows him to rent a larger apartment so his daughter can live with him more often. If Ward has one fault, it’s that he cares too much. After losing the first fight (badly, too), he hesitates to show his face anywhere in Lowell. He’s too embarrassed to show his face, so he takes Charlene on a date to an independent theater on the outskirts of town. He also appears very passive at the start of the film. Once he begins dating Charlene, he begins to come into his own. Charlene isn’t afraid to upset his family and encourages him to speak his mind. Ultimately, he wants everyone to get along, but finds himself in a tug-of-war between Alice and Dicky, and Charlene and Mickey. Despite their good intentions, he must reconcile that family can no longer serve him as well as he needs. He has to admit to himself that his mother brings nothing but drama, and his brother is a junkie. For once, he has to put his own needs first. Overall, it’s a sweet, understated performance from an actor known for playing macho street guys. My only issue is believing Wahlberg was 31 because he was 38 while filming. Funnily, despite playing the younger sibling, Wahlberg is three years older than Bale.
I wouldn’t hesitate to say that Amy Adams is one of the best actresses of her generation. She started her career with small roles in films like Catch Me If You Can and Junebug, before breaking out with films like Enchanted and Julie & Julia. It’s saying something that her performance as Charlene is the film’s third best. As Charlene, Adams loves Micky and is hard on him because she knows he can do better. She sees that his family is bringing Micky down, and she’s not afraid to speak her mind. She can hold her own against Alice and all of Micky’s hormonal sisters. In one moment, she can be tenacious and in another, she can be calm and friendly. I do think Charlene is living vicariously through Micky at times. She sees that Micky has a shot. That parallels her own past. She tells Dicky that she dropped out of college, drinks too much, and works at a bar, but she’s at least aware of her faults. Micky’s redemption, in some way, is also her redemption. Charlene and Micky haven’t had easy lives. Charlene’s been hardened by hers; Micky still has hope. In that way, they both complement each other. I’m not sure what else I can say about Adams’ performance. I was pretty impressed. Of her Academy Award nominations, I would say, without hesitation, this is my favorite. I should clarify, I have yet to see Junebug or Doubt, but this is my favorite of the ones I have seen. That would be a different story if she had been nominated for Arrival.
This could have been the year Amy Adams won her long-awaited Oscar. However, only one person stood in her way, her co-star, Melisso Leo. Leo was, in many ways, a dark horse in terms of a win. The studio supported her co-stars Wahlberg, Bale, and Adams. She was singled out for praise in several reviews, including one from Rick Bentley of the Charlotte Observer, stating, “While Wahlberg and Bale are quite good, they get blown off screen by Melissa Leo, who plays their mother.” Roger Ebert described the role as a “teeth-gratingly brilliant performance.” It wasn’t a shock when she got the nomination; that seemed given. Then, she did the unexpected and mounted her own campaign. In the past, self-funded campaigns didn’t usually turn out well (see Chill Wills in The Alamo or Margaret Avery in The Color Purple). However, the award seemed in reach after winning at The Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice, and Screen Actors Guild. Sure enough, Kirk Douglas called her name as Best Supporting Actress when he opened up the envelope. This was one of the rare times a self-funded campaign paid off.
As much as I would have rather seen Adams win, I’m not upset at Leo’s victory. She transformed herself into Alice Ward, Micky and Dicky’s chain-smoking, abrasive manager/mom (seemingly in that order). Though she’s only eleven years older than Wahlberg, you believe she’s his mother. She becomes that character. I absolutely hate that character. Alice stresses me out with her selfishness and the chaos surrounding her and her entire family. The fact that I hate this character only speaks to how strong her performance is. That being said, I did see the humanity Leo brought to the role. Two scenes stick out to me. The first is when Micky loses it with Alice and asks, “Aren’t you my mother too?” It makes her realize that she does look at Dicky as her “golden child,” when Micky needs love, too. The second scene is when the family gathers around to watch the HBO documentary featuring Dicky. Though Dicky believes the film is about his comeback, it’s stated partway through the movie that it’s actually a documentary about crack addiction. Whether his family knew the true intention of the documentary is never explained. When the documentary starts and she realizes what’s happening, gravity hits her face. She now has to confront the fact that not only is Dicky a crack addict, but that she and the entire family turned a blind eye to it all. I think it was a well-deserved win.
The best performance in the film, hands down, is Christian Bale. His win for Best Supporting Actor is one of my favorite wins in the category. Bale is like a human iguana. He can transform himself into any role. This is the same guy who, in the 2010s alone, played a crack addict, an overweight con artist (American Hustle), Batman, and Dick Cheney. What surprises me is that The Fighter marks Bale’s first nomination. Starting as a child actor with Empire of the Sun, Bale had a long career before this film. Notable titles include American Psycho, 3:10 to Yuma, and The Prestige. He appeared as Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. What’s crazy is that he weighed 190 pounds (mainly muscle) when filming The Dark Knight. After filming on The Dark Knight wrapped, he dropped to 145 pounds to play Dicky in this film, before returning to his Batman weight of 190 pounds for The Dark Knight Rises. He would also gain and lose weight for his performances in films like American Hustle, Vice, The Machinist, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Ford v. Ferrari.
Bale embodies Dicky Eklund and captures his little tics and mannerisms. Bale plays the character with so much heart. Dicky has good intentions. He wants to help his brother train, but he doesn’t realize his drug use is a problem. He loses track of time, and several times when he is supposed to be training Micky, he’s in a crackhouse indulging in his vices. In a memorable scene, while “sparring” with other addicts in a drug-induced state, the commentary from his famous 1978 match with Sugar Ray Leonard plays over the scene. It perfectly illustrates, with juxtaposition, just how far he’s fallen. Another notable scene is when he spends his first night in prison. As he lies in his cell, he is going through withdrawals, and footage of his fight with Sugar Ray Leonard is superimposed on screen as his memories. Once again, it illustrates how far things have fallen for him. The most heartbreaking moment involving Dicky occurs when he and the inmates gather to watch the HBO documentary. He makes fun of the documentary’s narrative, but his heart breaks when it cuts to a shot of Alice holding his son at his trial. As he watches his son cry, it dawns on Dicky that he should be out with his son, because he needs him, but instead, he’s locked up.
When Dicky gets sober, something within him changes. He abandons the delusion of a comeback. When he first reunites with Micky at the gym, Micky tells him and Alice that he’s got a new trainer and manager. This leads to a significant confrontation between Micky, Dicky, Alice, and Charlene. Upset, Dicky storms out and takes with him a cake that was given to him to celebrate his release. Ignoring George, who tries to stop him, Dicky continues walking away. It appears that his sobriety is being tested, which is confirmed when he arrives at the crackhouse. His old friends greet him and ask if he wants to partake. In a bold and surprising move, he turns them down, hands them the cake, and wishes them well as they walk off. Against his better judgment, he arrives at Charlene’s. The two exchange heated words over the intercom and later the window, before she comes down to talk to him. Though the two hate each other, he convinces her not to abandon Micky, saying that Micky needs her in his corner. In the final match of the film, Dicky acknowledges that his time is over. While in Micky’s corner, he reaffirms, “This is your time. I had my shot and I blew it.” This change in mindset is reiterated in the final shots of the film. The HBO documentary crew interviews Micky (now a champion) and Dicky (now sober). He asks the crew, “Who used to be the pride of Lowell?” He points to himself. “Who’s the pride of Lowell now?” Dicky asks this question as he points to Micky. As Micky once looked up to Dicky, Dicky is now a proud big brother.
When the film was released in December 2010, it earned overwhelmingly positive reviews and grossed $129 million at the box office. As mentioned, it was nominated for seven Oscars, with Bale and Leo winning in the supporting categories. Although I would have loved to see Wahlberg get in, it was a crowded field with the likes of Colin Firth (The King’s Speech), Javier Bardem (Biutiful), Jeff Bridges (True Grit), and Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network). I’m happy that the film won the two awards it did. The odds of the film winning other significant awards like Best Picture, Director, and Original Screenplay seemed slim to none. This year was basically a neck-and-neck race between The Social Network and the winner, The King’s Speech. Ironically, Russell competed for Best Director against Darren Aronofsky, who was nominated for directing Black Swan, although they both lost to Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech). This critical acclaim would be a taste of what is to come for Russell. His following two films would not only outgross each subsequent film, but each one would earn more Academy Award nominations than the last. Up next, we’re talking about Silver Linings Playbook. Until then, thanks for reading.
