Movie Review - "Horrible Bosses" (2011) ***

     If you have been in the workforce long enough, it's almost natural to have a time or two where you wished ill will against your boss. While I have been lucky and had pretty good bosses my entire work career, there have been a couple of exceptions and there have been moments where I wanted to toss them out a window. It happens. But the majority of us are sane and never actually consider carrying out our malicious thoughts. So we are given the movie Horrible Bosses to do that for us.

     The movie focuses on three characters who represent a microcosm of what most of us do on a daily basis. Nick (Jason Bateman) is moving up the corporate ladder and feels he is close to a big promotion. The only thing holding him back is Dave Harken (Kevin Spacey), the boss from hell. He's the kind of person that freaks out, even if you are one minute late, and will hold it over your head every chance he can get. Kurt (Jason Sudeikis), actually likes his boss but when his mentor passes away, the coke addict son (Colin Farrell) takes his place and every decision he makes is meant to make more profit to support his drug habit. Dale (Charlie Day) is a dental assistant who is looking forward to marrying his fiancee. There's one problem though. His boss, Julia (Jennifer Aniston), is a sex addict and spends most of the day making unwelcome sexual advances towards Dale. Sexual Harassment are not words that exist in her dictionary. After a night out drinking, and some shady advice from a "hitman" named Mother****er Jones (Jamie Foxx) (this is not a movie for kids by the way!!!!), the trio decide to murder each others bosses, ala Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train. Of course, the best laid plans of mice and men don't always work out, and with these bumbling criminals the odds of everything going right are nil.

      Horrible Bosses isn't up to the level of The Hangover, but if you enjoyed that movie you will probably enjoy this too. The story is pretty basic, and the ending is a big letdown, but the buildup has some very funny scenes and I found myself laughing a lot. The director, Seth Gordon, hasn't done many films but he did make the excellent documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, a must-see for any video game enthusiasts out there, so I like the body of work he has going so far. The actors in this movie are the real stars though. For whatever flaws the script has, the actors do a great job with what they are given. Has Jason Bateman ever been in anything bad?? I'm less familiar with Sudeikis and Day, but they have a good rapport with Bateman and when those three were on screen together the movie really works. Jennifer Aniston drops her girl-next-door persona and provides some of the raunchiest, and funniest, moments of the film. (Once again, this movie is NOT for kids) Kevin Spacey, and an almost unrecognizable Colin Farrell, also are great over-the-top fun in their roles as bosses who you hope you never have. Horrible Bosses is not a great movie but if you are looking for something to watch one night and want a few good, raunchy laughs, you can do a lot worse.

Movie Review - "Red Tails" (2012) ***

     This is a tough one for me. I have been anticipating seeing this film for a while now. I have kept up with it off and on as it is a project from George Lucas, the creator of the Star Wars saga. Lucas has been working on Red Tails since 1988 and has had trouble finding support from studios, which ultimately led to him fully financing the project himself. Lucas has stated in recent promotional interviews for the film that it is his belief that a movie with a primarily African-American cast has scared off many studios from wanting to back the picture with the money necessary to fund the project. I do not know if this is true or not but I think it could be a valid argument. In recent years, movies with a high percentage of black actors tend to only fall in the comedy category. This is unfortunate, but it does seem to be a reality. So I was intrigued to see how the cast would do, and I'm also a fan of World War II history in general, therefore Red Tails was high on my must-see list.

     The movie is about the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American fighter pilots who fought during World War II. The group served their country honorably even though they faced racism and prejudice from many of their fellow soldiers. As the movie opens, the group is already stationed in Italy and is running routine missions to destroy trucks and tanks because the military leaders at the Pentagon do not trust them with more important tasks. We are introduced to a group of four pilots and it is these individuals that the movie focuses on during it's duration. The group is led by "Easy" (Nate Parker) who is a great pilot and leader but has issues with alcohol. His three wingmen are "Junior" (Tristan Wilds), "Joker" (Elijah Kelley) and "Lightning" (David Oyelowo). The group has a good rapport and they perform their tasks well, but "Lightning" is considered one of the best pilots even though he has a tendency to not follow orders. He and "Easy" butt heads over this several times but they are held together due to the presence of Major Stance (Cuba Gooding Jr.), the leader of the group while stationed on the ground. Stance reports to Colonel Bullard (Terrence Howard), who spends much of his time in Washington D.C. trying to convince the military hierarchy to put their trust in his men and send them more worthy assignments. They are eventually assigned a task that will have them see dogfight action and after succeeding with ease, they become a valuable asset to the military. They are asked to provide escort support to a group of bombers and it is during these missions where the Tuskegee Airmen earn their true stripes.

      I said at the beginning of the review that this was a tough one for me. What I meant by that was the fact that this movie disappoints me some. If you peel away some of the bad stuff and look at its core, there is a GREAT movie lurking here. The action scenes are very well done and I felt like I was up in the skies flying with these guys during battle. Even though Lucas didn't direct the film, you can see his touches during the aerial combat scenes, it's obvious Star Wars was an influence here. However, when the movie is on the ground it is a hodgepodge of hits and misses, unfortunately it's mostly misses. I believe the acting is fine in this film. Nobody really stands out and gives a tremendous performance, but there is not a lot wasted either. I think everyone pulls their role off admirably. Unfortunately, they aren't given much of a script to work with. There is a romance element installed in the movie and it is completely unnecessary and drags the movie down. I was reminded of Pearl Harbor, another war movie that had great action scenes but it gets bogged down in a ridiculous romantic angle that kills the pace of the movie. I also wish the movie would have gone for a bit more of a dramatic tone and focused on some of the issues these gentlemen faced. I'm sure the decision by Lucas and director Anthony Hemingway was to go lighter to appeal to a wider audience, but I think that was a mistake. There is a brief scene where several of the men are sitting around at base discussing why they are performing their duties even though they are not respected, but it only lasts a couple of minutes and then isn't brought up again. I wanted more of that. I wanted to see more scenes where the men faced difficulties from white soldiers. It's touched on but not enough. The movie frustrated me because of this, I came away thinking it was a missed opportunity. Don't get me wrong, I think this is a good film and I am recommending it. The war scenes are fantastic and it is a great opportunity for people to learn about a group of men who were heroes to their country, even though their country did not believe in them at first. I just wish it would have gone to the next level and been a more thought-based experience.

Movie Review - "Carnage" (2011) ***1/2

     Have your ever been to a kids sporting event, perhaps a little league baseball game or something similar, and you see "those" parents. I'm talking about the ones that are just a little bit too invested in their childs performance during the game and they tend to forget that it's just a game and they need to backup and let the kids play. You know what I'm talking about. Well if people like that get on your nerves and you feel they deserve to be mocked, Carnage may be a movie that you find appealing.

     Carnage is based on a French play titled "God of Carnage" and the film is very much like a stage performance. It takes place almost entirely in one location with only four characters getting any screen time of note. As the film opens, we see a brief incident on a playground where a couple of kids get into an altercation, and ends with one of the kids hitting the other with a stick. We see this from a distance, and hear no dialogue, so we don't know the context of what happened, and that's important to the story. This opening scene is very brief and is one of only two times that we are outside of our main setting. We then proceed to our primary location, the home of Michael and Penelope Longstreet (John C. Reilly, Jodie Foster). Their son, Ethan, was the kid hit by the stick in the playground scene. He has suffered some physical damage and Michael and Penelope have invited the family of the other kid, Zachary, to their home to discuss the incident. Zachary's parents are Alan and Nancy Cowan (Christoph Waltz, Kate Winslet). The discussion between the couples begins very cordially as they agree in writing to what happened between their children. We believe things are going to end well when Alan and Nancy start to leave, but then something is said that leads to more conversation between the couples. It's here where things slowly start to fall apart as the two sides start to splinter. The disagreements start out simple enough but eventually things deteriorate and when alcohol is introduced into the mix, all hell breaks loose. Can these 4 "adults" work out their differences or will human nature lead to carnage that will claim each of them?

      Based on that brief description, Carnage may seem like a serious film. And while there are some underlying lessons here about being an adult, this is really a comedy as we see just how childish adults can be at times. I found myself laughing a lot during this film and there were a couple of scenes where I was almost in tears. This is a testament to the acting in this film, which is really what makes this film work. It's an actors movie, pure and simple. Jodie Foster and Kate Winslet are two of my favorite actresses and while both have been more memorable in other roles, they both show the enormous talent that they possess here, especially when they are going head to head on screen. Christoph Waltz is the actor I'm least familiar with but he more than holds his own here as an attorney who can't seem to stay focused on the task at hand due to the numerous distractions on his cell phone. John C. Reilly is a great actor and he is a catalyst for much of the comedy here. Of the four performances, Reilly's is the one that I will remember the most from Carnage. This is not a movie that will be for everyone. It's more of an artsy picture and while it is funny, it's not slapstick comedy which is more appealing to a wider audience. A lot of people will also be disappointed with the ending as we are not given clear cut answers to everything. You have to think about the closing scene a bit but if you pick up on the irony of it, you will enjoy the film more. If you don't, you may walk away going "Huh??" I got it and therefore I enjoyed the movie and recommend it.

Movie Review - "Senna" (2010) ****

     I have been a big fan of NASCAR racing since I was a young kid. I grew up cheering for one of my idols, Terry Labonte, and when he retired I became a fan of Jeff Gordon, one of Terry's teammates. I root for these guys almost as much as I root for my favorite baseball or football team. While I love racing, I have become well aware of the dangers that the sport can provide. I can't imagine what I would feel like should one of my two favorite drivers die while on the race track. I suspect that I would be emotional about that. In 2001, Dale Earnhardt, one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history was killed in a last-lap wreck at the famed Daytona International Speedway when his car collided head-on with the wall and Earnhardt sustained massive head trauma. I was not a fan of Earnhardt, while he was idolized by many, he was also the biggest antagonist on the track to many fans, me included. But his death did bother me and I felt bad for quite a while after. Just this past year, the Indy Car racing series lost arguably its best driver, Dan Wheldon, in a crash that occurred at the Las Vegas Speedway. I am not a big fan of that style of racing but I just happened to be watching live when it happened that fateful day. It took a good long while for Wheldon to be pronounced dead but if you have been watching racing for a long time, you just sorta of know when things are not normal. I knew that crash was bad and it was likely to result in the loss of Wheldon, but you always keep your hopes up that it will turn out okay. Usually it does, but when it doesn't you just feel terrible for the driver, his family and the racing community.

     While Earnhardt and Wheldon were arguably the top drivers in their respective circuits at the time of their deaths, there was no such argument for Ayrton Senna, a Formula 1 3-time champion from Brazil, who died in a wreck in 1994. The documentary Senna by director Asif Kapadia, compiles actual footage from Senna's career including many in-car camera shots from his races, including the race which claimed his life. Senna himself, along with other family members and colleagues, provide the soundtrack tracing Senna's roots in go-kart racing as well as his brilliant ten-year career in the Formula 1 racing circuit. During his decade in the sport, Senna won three championships, was robbed of a fourth and set many records which still stand to this day. The documentary details his strained relationship with fellow competitor Alain Prost, a French driver who worked the politics of the sport better than Senna, a fact which Senna resented during his entire career. Senna was of the belief that politics should not be a part of the sport and the drivers should battle to win at all times. Prost is not seen merely as an enemy, just simply a guy who approached the sport differently. If there is an antagonist in the film, it is Jean-Marie Balestre, the President of Formula 1 racing, who did bring politics into the sport on too many occasions and does not come out looking great at the end of this film. You get the sense on several occasions that Senna was fighting the people off the track more than he was battling with other drivers on the track.

     The film also shows the great impact that Senna had on his home country of Brazil, which was strife in political corruption and poverty during this decade that Senna ruled the sport. He was so beloved by ladies that there are a couple of instances shown when female reporters almost couldn't do their jobs because they were overcome by being near him. Some of these scenes are kind of funny and you realize what a huge figure Senna was. While not well-known here in the US outside of racing fans, he was an icon in Brazil and other parts of the world. During his funeral, the streets of Brazil are lined by spectators for many miles. He gave much of his wealth back to the community and in return, they showed him the ultimate gratitude of love.

Senna is one of the better documentaries I have ever seen. It's a genre I really should embrace more since the ones that I usually try out, I tend to like more often than not. While race fans, especially those of Senna or Formula 1, will get the most of this movie for obvious reasons, I still think there is enough here that would appeal to the casual viewer as well. The movie is an hour and forty-five minutes long and that was about the perfect length. It tells its story without getting bogged down in minutiae. I highly recommend it. I can remember watching the NASCAR race the same weekend that Senna died. Dale Earnhardt won the race and in victory lane he dedicated his win to Ayrton Senna. Looking back on that now, I like to think that the two of them are up in heaven somewhere talking about racing.

Movie Review - "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (2011) ***1/2

    "The feel bad movie of Christmas" That's a tongue-in-cheek tagline used to describe the newest release from talented director David Fincher, known for some pretty dark movies such Se7en, Fight Club, and Zodiac. It is an understatement to say the least. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has a lot of good going for it, but geez, you feel like you want to take a shower after seeing it. It's a bit grimy. The movie is based on the first book of a 3-book series by the late Swedish author Stieg Larsson. The books were released posthumously and have gone on to be multimillion bestsellers. I have not read the books so I can't give an honest comparison but after seeing the first film I may get around to it. All 3 books have already been made into Swedish films which received primarily positive critical acclaim. I have not seen these foreign adaptations so I cannot compare this film with its predecessors either. It remains to be seen if the other two films are going to be made for the American audience but it appears the movie is going to do well so I fully expect the sequels to come here in the next couple of years.

      I'll give a fairly basic plot summary but I can't go into much detail. The movie is a mystery and it would be very easy to spill the beans on some of its secrets, all of which should be witnessed without spoilers. The movie stars Daniel Craig as a disgraced journalist named Mikael Blomkvist who is hired to investigate the 40-year old disappearance of a wealthy patriarchs grand-daughter. The girl, Harriet, disappeared from the family's island during a family function and has not been seen or heard from since. The grandfather, Henrik (Christopher Plummer), cannot let this go because every year he receives a gift, the same gift that his granddaughter gave him before her disappearance. Henrik is convinced that the person sending the gifts is responsible for the disappearance of Harriet. Most of the family members still live on the island and are an eclectic mix of people. One of the best lines of the movie is spoken by Henrik when he says, "But what you'll really be doing is investigating thieves, misers and bullies - the most detestable collection of people you will ever meet - my family."

     Mikael starts off investigating by himself but he is eventually joined in his investigation by Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), the title character. Lisbeth, at first glance, is someone a lot of people would take one look at and walk the other way. With multiple piercings, tattoos and an unkempt look she is ripe for prejudice. Lisbeth is actually a very smart investigator and computer hacker herself who uses her appearance as a defense mechanism due to a troubled past. She has lots of trust issues with males and this is only complicated when her current guardian abuses and rapes her. She overcomes these issues and is able to work with Mikael in the investigation and the two make a really good investigative team. They pour through documents and photos from the day Harriet disappeared and slowly they start to put the pieces together and see the big picture of what really happened to Harriet.

     I know that plot summary is pretty vague, but it really needs to be. It's too easy to spoil parts of this movie and I would hate to do that. There is a lot of good in this movie. The detective work by Mikael and Lisbeth is very intriguing as they weave their way through this complicated family and their pasts. Rooney Mara, who had a small part in Fincher's The Social Network last year, is really the highlight of this movie. Her role is so vulnerable and tough at the same time and Mara could very well earn herself a Best Actress nomination at this years Oscars. Craig can be a bit bland at times but I liked him here in this starring role as Mikael. Stellan Skarsgard and Robin Wright play supporting roles well also.  Fincher is one of my favorite directors and while I didn't like this film quite as much as I did some of his others, I could see a lot of the marks that make him a genius behind the camera. He just has a way of creating dark suspense that can unsettle you. The script by writing guru Steven Zaillian has some hiccups but overall I was really impressed. So why do I not have this movie rated higher? I wanted to go 4 stars on it and there is a large section of this movie that is worthy of that rating, even higher possibly. The problem is, this film clocks in at about 2 hours and 40 minutes. The bulk of the mystery is in the 2 hour middle portion of the film and that is top notch. But there is roughly 20 minutes at the start and 20 minutes at the end of this film that I mentally checked out. It takes a while to get going. Once the mystery is solved, there's a 20 minute epilogue that I know why it is in here, but it just didn't work for me. I thought it fell flat compared to the rest of the film. Perhaps it's just me but I almost wish it wasn't there. Also, without spoiling things, I thought part of this mystery was pretty easy to figure out. There's a specific reason why, but I don't want to go into that here as it would possibly spoil things. But there was just a decision made that I didn't like. Talk to me about it in person if you want to know what I'm talking about. These things added up and I wasn't able to go to that fourth star, but don't let that distract you. I really enjoyed this movie, and while it will not be for everyone due to some of the subject matter, it is worthy of the praise it has been receiving.

Movie Review - "Crazy, Stupid, Love." (2011) ***

     I'm as guilty as anyone of prejudging movies I guess. You see a couple of previews and many times you decide right then whether you will like the movie or not. I guess it's just human nature, because I do this quite often, even though I should have learned my lesson. I've seen many films that I went in with the highest of expectations, only to walk away disappointed. The opposite is also true, and it's because of these films that I continue to love watching movies. When are you going to see the next movie that exceeds your expectations and surprises you? You never know. Crazy Stupid Love (I'll be ignoring the head-scratching punctuation marks in the title for the remainder of this review) is a movie that fits this description for me. It resides in that dreaded genre for me, the RomCom, or Romantic Comedy. When it comes to prejudging, I tend to do it with this genre more than any other. Is that fair? No, probably not, but it's just the way it is. I've seen too many of these movies that are just completely brain dead and do absolutely nothing for me that I can't help myself sometimes. On occasion though I have to give one a chance and I'm glad I did so with this film as I was pleasantly surprised.

      Crazy Stupid Love wastes no time getting to its premise. We meet married couple Cal (Steve Carell) and Emily (Julianne Moore) as they are having dinner in a restaurant. When Cal asks Emily what she wants for dessert, she quickly blurts out "A divorce"....and then proceeds to let Cal know that she has been sleeping with another guy. At this point, Cal's life is turned upside down. He finds himself separated from his high school sweetheart, the only woman he has ever loved, and their children. Cal tries to blend back in with society but he hasn't dated since high school and he is not exactly the most "smooth" guy in the bar. It's here where Cal meets Jacob, the ideal womanizer, who seems to go home from the bar every night with a different woman of his choosing. He can say just a few words and women fall head over heels for him. He is the exact opposite of Cal. Jacob is played by Ryan Gosling, an actor I'm only familiar with in a few roles but I can already tell he's one of the best actors going today. There's just something about him that he owns the screen whenever he is on it. I've enjoyed him in Ides of March and Blue Valentine and I have heard is performance in Drive is superb as well, so that movie is definitely on my radar. 2011 has been his breakout year and what a year it's been. As for the character here, his Jacob finally gets Cal comfortable talking to ladies and Cal is able to score a night with Kate, played by the very funny (and oh so beautiful!!) Marisa Tomei. They have a great night together which knocks Cal's confidence through the roof and he is soon courting a different woman each night, just like his "teacher" Jacob.

     It's here where the movie could easily fall into a few standard storyline traps and become just another film in a myriad of raunchy, brain-dead romcom stereotypes. But Crazy Stupid Love proves it's smarter than that and has more to offer. Underneath the comedy here is a movie with actually a pretty good message about soul mates and finding the perfect person. Everyone has that soul mate out there and you never know when or how you will meet them. It also questions that if they are truly a soul mate, how hard will you fight for them when things aren't perfect. I enjoyed this third act of the film when we slip into drama a little bit more but the film doesn't stop being funny. It toes the line carefully and in the end I feel it really worked out. The honor for doing that goes to the screenwriter, Dan Fogelman, and directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. They realized they had something here and didn't ruin it. Kudos to them.

      Crazy Stupid Love is not a perfect film, it has its flaws for sure. But compared to many other films of its like, I really enjoyed it. So many movies like this fail to make me laugh. This movie succeeded there, I laughed quite a few times and there were a couple of really great scenes. Marisa Tomei isn't on screen much but when she is she is simply a delight and has some of the best comedic moments in the movie. Gosling is at his best in the first half of the movie when he is working with Cal. He shines as the ultimate womanizer without being obnoxious, that's hard to do in a role like this. Emma Stone, Analeigh Tipton and Jonah Bobo are all young actors who give supporting performances worth of recognition. I don't really want to go into what each of their roles are because there is actually is a slight twist in the movie and I don't want to ruin it. I thought it was pretty funny and I want the viewer to experience it for themselves. Steve Carell and Julianne Moore both give decent performances. Neither is at the top of their game, but they do just fine in the starring roles. While not perfect, Crazy Stupid Love is 2 hours of your time which shouldn't be offensive and you may find some good laughs, as I did. It's a nice surprise and I'm glad I saw it.

Movie Review - "Warrior" (2011)

     Welcome everyone to the Mind of Mickster's first ever two-person review. This past weekend my friend Justin and I got the opportunity to watch the film Warrior starring Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton and Nick Nolte. I hope you enjoy this dual review, which could turn out to be an actual duel since I know Justin and I can have some different taste in movies. I hope you enjoy.

     Warrior stars Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton as brothers who have been estranged from each other for many years. Tommy Conlon (Hardy) is an ex-Marine who has recently returned from Iraq and has a secret past from his time in Iraq which is slowly revealed to the audience over the course of the movie.  Tommy was a superb amateur wrestler growing up, but his life was turned upside-down due to a broken household caused by his father's alcoholism. When his mom split and left their father, Tommy decided to go with her but her death left Tommy without a family. Tommy's brother, Brendan (Edgerton), decided to stay with their father, leaving the brothers relationship to be strained. As the movie opens, the father, Paddy (Nick Nolte), is 1000 days sober and regrets his past. He is surprised to arrive home one night to find Tommy waiting for him. Tommy is in town to start training for Sparta, a $5 million winner-take-all MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) tournament. Tommy earns a spot in the tournament by beating a local MMA tough guy at the gym during a sparring session. He turns to his father to train him, but makes it clear from the get-go that their relationship is strictly teacher-student because of trust issues that Tommy still has with his father. Paddy agrees to train him and while doing so, tries to prove himself to his son.

     Brendan is an ex-fighter as well who has given up the sport to be a high school teacher. He is happily married to Tess (Jennifer Morrison) and is a loving father to his kids. He has nothing to do with his father or brother and the family hasn't seen Paddy in years. When financial problems threaten the foreclosure of his home, Brendan secretly fights at unsanctioned events that take place in a parking lot behind a strip club. Brendan easily wins a fight and collects a small payday, but this information makes its way to the school principal who has to dismiss Brendan from his job. With his family in a deep financial hole, he goes to Tess with the option of him returning to the ring to fight in the Sparta tournament. Tess remembers Brendan's past and how the sport almost killed him and will not give him her blessing. Brendan does what he must though and seeks out his former trainer, Frank Campana (Frank Grillo), to get Brendan back into fighting shape. 

     I'm not spoiling anything by saying this, you'd have to have never seen a movie before to realize that it's inevitable that these two brothers will end up face-to-face in the ring. But this movie has a lot of surprises up it's sleeve and the outcome may not necessarily be what you think it is. So let's see what Justin and I thought about the movie.

Justin's Take:    **

      If I had to recommend a feel-good movie that is right for the entire family, this would fit into that category. It has the age old American dream story written all over it. The acting wasn't that bad. But one of my pet peeves is that if an actor starts out having an accent, they should be able to maintain it throughout the entirety of the film. Hardy and Edgerton seem to have an Irish accent in one scene, and then an American accent in the next scene. Other than that, it's a movie that the entire family can sit down and enjoy as decent entertainment for one evening.

     I am a huge MMA fan, which is primarily what this movie is about.  So from that standpoint, I have some different views. I think overall it doesn't give MMA a bad image. Brendan is a teacher and as a lot of MMA fans know, Rich Franklin, a prominent fighter in the UFC, was a Math teacher himself. Tommy was in the military and this is another background which a lot of fighters tend to have. So there is some authenticity there. The problem I had is one that occurs in a lot of sports movies, the lack of realism. In most of the fights in this movie, one fighter usually takes a severe beating when in reality, almost all of these fights would have been stopped by the referee before getting to this level. The other negative I found was in the style of fights and the money awarded to the participants. The Sparta tournament in this movie takes place over a couple of days but in reality, fighters generally take several months to train for just one fight. The other thing was the portrayal of the money these fighters win. Most Middleweight fighters, the level depicted in this film, don't make anywhere near the millions of dollars awarded in this tournament. George St. Pierre, the most famous middleweight fighter and current UFC champion in that weight class, makes approximately $450,000 per fight and may only fight twice a year. But most fighters never approach even that level of money.

     Overall, I would tell someone to watch the movie and accept it for what it is, a decent action film with decent acting and a decent storyline. I think Nick Nolte did a fair job thought I don't think he was as exceptional as some people are making him out to be in this role. I feel people sometimes are given extra credit just for playing a certain type of role, such as the alcoholic. I feel he was just fair in this movie. I give the movie 2 stars out of 5.

Mickster's Take:    ****

    Justin, Justin, Justin. I agree with a lot of the things you said in your review but as an overall movie experience, I got much more out of this than you did apparently. I saw a movie that has some flaws, some of which you pointed out, but I think there is a five star film here that is a few flaws away from being a classic film experience. I was sucked in by the story of these two brothers and their troubled father. The movie could have easily ventured over into a sappy category, but it avoids those pitfalls and when the movie ends I have seen a movie that has tugged at my emotions, but doesn't veer into tearjerker territory. I'm not sure what it is about boxing/fighting movies, but they just have a way of working more often than they miss. Rocky, The Fighter and Million Dollar Baby are all classic movies with a fighting theme that made my top 100 list of all time. Warrior isn't quite up to the level of these masterpieces, but it comes pretty darn close.

    I agree with you on Nick Nolte, regarding his performance here. I think he is fine and he does have one great scene in a hotel room with Tom Hardy, but I don't get where all the Oscar talk is coming from for him as a possible Supporting Actor nominee. It's just not Oscar worthy in my opinion. Fine, but not great. I actually preferred Hardy as an actor in this movie, and he's the one I feel if anyone was a dark horse for an Oscar from this film, it would be him. I certainly don't think he will get one, but I did enjoy his performance here. Edgerton is fine as well, he pulls the role off, but when I think of this movie down the line it won't be because of his performance. But it's admirable nonetheless. I also agree with Justin on the realism of the fights. I do consider myself an MMA fan now, and though I haven't been following it as long as Justin, even I pointed out that most of these fights would have been stopped well before they actually are. But I agree that this is a good promotional movie for the sport as I don't feel it portrays it in the negative light that it sometimes receives. One issue that I had with the film that Justin didn't point out is that there are a couple of plot lines which are never fully satisfied when the movie ends. I won't go into detail because I don't want to spoil anything, but there are loose ends that just weren't tied up well enough for me and one of them in particular was kind of glaring. But these are minor quibbles and didn't mess with my enjoyment of the movie too much.

    After seeing the film, I looked up the name of Gavin O'Connor, the director of this movie. I was surprised to see that while he doesn't have a lot of credits to his name, one of his few previous directing roles was for the Kurt Russell movie Miracle, a movie that made my top 100 list. I think with these two films on his resume, he's a director that I would like to see more of when it comes to making movies, especially sports-themed ones. I think he has a lot of talent. I really enjoyed this film and while it's flawed I felt satisfied at it's conclusion. I was refreshed to see that if you can look past the violence a little bit, there's actually a decent family movie here for people with kids who are a little older. Some of the fighting may be too intense for younger kids though. If this movie was on your radar and you missed it, go rent it the next time you are looking for something to watch. If it wasn't on your radar, it should be.