62. November 30th, 2010 Picture.

Ratty really loves movies and usually sees all the great award contenders, with or without me.  He is always on top of giveaways and is constantly getting free passes to new movies a few days before they come out.  I definitely like going to the movies, but I have to say I wouldn't go nearly as often if it weren't for him.  This time around he got passes to a screening for 'The Fighter', which was totally fabulous.  We were planning on seeing the movie regardless, but getting to see an awesome movie for FREE is like the cherry on top of a sundae.  I don't even like cherries, but you know what I'm talking about.  Better yet, the screening was in the movie theater in my office building, so we didn't even have to stress about getting downtown in time.  Totes perfect.


We met up at Panera for a quick bite before the movie, and then headed to the theater to get in line.  There is always a line, even for screenings of horrible movies, so you can imagine how busy it gets when they're actually previewing a good one.  They always give out more passes than seats available, meaning that if you show up late, you most likely won't get in.  We got in line about an hour early, and surprisingly, we were not the first people there.  I always stress a little bit, it's hard to gauge how big the crowd is versus the size of the theater, but we've never been turned away, knock on wood!

I have to say that I didn't know much about Micky Ward before the movie.  I knew the name, knew he was from the Boston area, but I knew nothing about his relationship with his family, his drug addict brother or the outcome of some of his most famous fights.  This meant I spent most of the movie on the edge of my seat and/or on the verge of tears.  Would he win?  Would he finally get out from the hellhole that was his home life?  Would his brother DIE?  I should have known the answer to that last one because both Micky and his brother Dicky Eklund were all over the news stations leading up to the premiere, I should have pieced it all together, but I was sucked into the movie and no stream of rational thought could get through.

I thought the movie was VERY good, and I'm not just saying that because I'm partial to Boston based movies.  The acting was phenomenal, I mean, sweet little fairytale Amy Adams literally punches a girl in the face and man, she looked tough.  It was a far cry from her playing a princess in 'Enchanted'.  Christian Bale literally looked like he was strung out on drugs, for the entire movie.  His face was sallow, he rambled and did crazy things with his hands, and was completely unpredictable.  He definitely deserved that Oscar.  I'll admit, they also totally nailed how trashy some people are, like, so incredibly perfectly, down to their furniture in their houses.  I could literally smell the cigarette smoke from just looking at one of the couches. 

 And while I love this recent surge in interest for Boston, I feel like some movies paint us in an unflattering light.  And by unflattering I mean like straight up trash.  In the 'Departed' we're ALL either in the Irish Mob, working for them, or lying for them, in 'Gone Baby Gone' we're conniving kidnappers, in 'The Town' EVERYONE, and I mean everyone, is a bank robber and in 'The Fighter' we are all uneducated, chain-smoking drug addicts.  I doubt that they'll make a movie anytime soon called 'Newbury Street' where you watch rich people shop all day, I understand that the gritty Bostonian history has lended itself to this recent string of Oscar contenders, but when you look at the movies and characters in a row, we don't look that nice.   Both physically, emotionally and socially.  End rant.

All things considered, the movie is really great, whether you know a lot about Micky Ward or not.  It covered a lot of information, but it kept the viewer engaged and interested, or at least it kept me engaged and interested.  And if this still doesn't make you want to see it, just think about Mark Walberg being shirtless an awful lot.