Warrior

Warrior is a film that I don't think anyone who has seen it, anticipated how strong it would be. For me it was the film, that I noticed only because I saw it so many times IMDB's front page and reading reviews that praised it. Where did it come from? And after seeing it, how had I missed it before?

Warrior is Gavin O'Connor's film about two brothers set on a collision course in Sparta, an Mixed Martial Arts event, where winner takes it all, all being a shitload of money. Contestants will brutally beat each other to the edge of passing out or literally passing out. There aren't many rules in this sport and the fights are brutal, but not as brutal as the contestants themselves. Our brothers come in us true underdogs. Brendan is there to collect the prize to support his family, but Tommy, after being AWOL for almost 15 years is there for a whole other reason we learn only in the end, because it turns out, Tommy has many secrets and he isn't so proud of them. Both brothers have cut all ties to their alcoholic father, who in Tommy's request starts training him, like in the good old days. Only that everything has changed.

Just reading the summary makes this seem like a guys' film, but believe me, it is not. This film had me in tears. This isn't about MMA or guys brutally kicking and punching each other, this is a film about family. And that is exactly the reason this film stands out. Also, making this even more interesting, the lack of women is nice. Brendan has a wife and two girls, but apart from them, there aren't that many women in the picture and I found it... interesting, because the dynamics between a father and his two sons proved to be strong and more complicated. Men are known for having a hard time showing their emotions so we have all this build up anger and grief and bitter that bursts out of our characters. The boys don't have a gentle mother who would protect her sons and provide a shelter from their father. Tommy had to actually watch his mother die slowly and painfully and Brendan didn't get to say goodbye to her. So even if we don't have their mother as a physical being, her presence is there and gives the characters depth and adds tension between two brothers.  

Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton give fine performances in this film. Tom Hardy's performance as Tommy brought Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain into my mind. He has strong, silent force in him, this one. From the beginning, we know very little about Tommy, but Hardy makes us believe that there so much more to Tommy than meets the eye and we are rewarded for our patience in the end. Hardy's performance gives the audience glimpses of the broken man Tommy has become, before we find out his real motive for entering Sparta.

Joel Edgerton is almost left in the shadow of Hardy's strong performance, but in the end, can hold his own and makes Brendan a very grounded, a very real character. He is the guy all the girls can see marrying in the future, he is the sweet guy next door, but when faced with a dilemma that could cost him his family, he fights fiercely, because his family is all he has and can't bear the thought of losing it. If he were to lose this fight and going home empty handed, he would see himself a failure, he wouldn't see himself as a father or a husband, he would have failed and let down his family.

But it's Nick Nolte who steals the show as the boys' alcoholic father, now trying to make amends. The scene where he visits Brendan is absolutely heartbreaking. Nolte brings reality to this character, in the way that we all recognize him. He is not a saint, even though he has been sober for years now, and he knows that his alcoholism will always be the huge elephant in the room standing between him and his family.

The ending is quite clichéd, but then again, why have these clichés become clichés? Because they work and they do draw tears from our eyes. So, bravo. This is a well-made movie that stands out because of its' strong focus on the shattered dynamics of a broken family and its' strong perfomances by Hardy, Edgerton and Nolte. I recommend this film to each and everyone of you.

-Coffee Cat