The Fighter Review

MPAA Rating: NR
Released: 1983

The Fighter was a made-for-TV film that debuted on February 19, 1983, telling the story of a Vietnam veteran living in poverty with his newly pregnant wife. Desperate to create a better life for his coming child, the veteran decides to pursue an amateur boxing career, much to the dismay of his wife who is not happy at all with her husband's violent source of income.

Originally titled Fighting Chance, The Fighter tells the fictional story of Merle Banks (Gregory Harrison), a Vietnam veteran that is working as a hotel bellhop. Although both he and his wife, Rindy Banks (Glynnis O'Connor), have jobs, the two of them together barely earn enough to make ends meet. His demeaning job and ghetto lifestyle causes Merle to become increasingly unhappy with his life, and desperate to find a way to make some money.

This opportunity arrives in the form of an amateur boxing contest that's rolling into town with a prize of $1,000.00 for the winner. Merle, who was an accomplished hand-to-hand combatant during the war, decides that he has the skills to make a go of the boxing competition and signs up. By his side are his new trainer, Toby (Steve Inwood) and his corner man Charlie (Robert Englund). But not everyone is happy about his decision to enter the contest… specifically his wife Rindy.

Despite her objections, he goes through with the contest and wins it rather easily before returning back to a menial minimum-wage job and poverty. Urgency pops its ugly head though when Rindy informs Merle that he's about to become a father. Faced with this knowledge, Merle decides that the only way he can earn enough to change his family's life around before the arrival of their child is to enter a tri-state boxing competition where the grand prize is $10,000.00.

But Merle will need to face many obstacles, both personal and physical, if he expects to go through with his dreams. Rindy is increasingly hostile towards her husband's "occupation" and as such their family is being torn apart. In addition Merle is not a professional boxer, and the quality of the competition during the tri-state championship will be far higher than his initial local bouts. Can Merle survive both his marriage and the boxing ring, or will he discover that he's bitten off more than he could possibly chew?

The Fighter is a boxing film, obviously, but this is a slower-paced drama rather than a rock 'em sock 'em action flick. The focus is on the family and the strife the boxing is causing rather than on the boxing itself. And for the most part, it's technically sound for a made-for-TV movie. The acting is pretty good, and the production isn't too shabby either.

Boxing purists will likely grit their teeth at this film for two reasons. First, although it's perfectly natural for a wife to be concerned about her husband boxing and worry about his welfare, Rindy was so rabid against her husband's choice that it took her beyond the levels of reasonable concern into the realm of spoiled brat. There's a period in the movie where she is so unsupportive of her husband that it borders on betrayal, and quite frankly it was just too much. It almost seemed like propaganda designed to convince the viewer that boxing is "bad."

The boxing matches themselves are pretty decent to watch for the most part, but boxing purists will immediately notice that half the punches these boxers toss at each other are illegal! Okay… that might be a slight exaggeration, but the point is the choreography has more in common with a drunken barroom brawl than it does an actual boxing match. If any real boxer tried to fight like those depicted in this film, they would be disqualified.

But that criticism may have been intentional, because to be fair the movie isn't showcasing sanctioned "legitimate" boxing matches, but rather a more underground organization similar to the Toughman competitions that are run. In this light, it's to be somewhat expected that the fighters would have unpolished and wild styles, and why the referee would overlook many questionable punches and movements.

Ultimately, what can be said for The Fighter? Well, it doesn't score a knockout, but it does barely go the distance and as such might be worth a viewing if you're a boxing or family-drama fan. Purchasing this film in DVD form will be difficult though – I've been unable to locate an online store that carries it. But that's not really a huge problem since it's a movie you'll probably want to rent before you purchase, and you can find The Fighter at Netflix.

Movie rating: 6 stars

If you enjoyed The Fighter you may also find the following films to be of interest:

Other Resources:

The Fighter IMDb Page

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