Warrior
When I was in my early 20’s I met a guy who insisted that UFC was the greatest thing since Mike Tyson was biting people’s ears off in the ring. I watched a video that he had of one of the Pay Per Views and I was thoroughly unimpressed. It was two big manly guys playing grab ass with each other and then laying on the mat until someone submitted or the fight was stopped. I never understood the fervor that inspired fans by the millions to drop money on this. MMA to me was just not worth it. I would rather just purchase a WWE event and at least be given some sort of storyline that I can follow. Perhaps that is just the movie lover in me. I want story with my fighting otherwise it just seems worthless. I do however wonder what life would be life if a scenario like The Running Man or The Hunger Games actually existed. Where people hunted each other on TV for sport. It would clear up our prison system and offer us sickos something to watch on off days from Baseball or the NFL. I’m just throwing it out there and seeing if it works for you.
Yet the sport of MMA (and I will agree with the idea that Mixed Martial Arts is a sport) is the topic of the recently released movie Warrior, starring Tom Hardy (soon to be Bane in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Rises) and Joel Edgerton (Uncle Owen from Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith) as brothers who thanks to their father’s (Nick Nolte) violence against their mother haven’t seen each other for years. Tommy (Hardy) has a troubled past after leaving his brother and father behind, including the mom’s death and a mysterious past with the Marines in Iraq that leads him back home to face his father and repay a debt to a fallen marine’s family. He impresses a trainer at the local gym (think Mickey’s gym from Rocky) and is entered into the main event MMA fighting grand prix style event Sparta, which involves a two night event in which you fight twice a night until the last man in a pool of 16 is left standing. He comes to his father for help to train him but really wants nothing to do with the old man but as Nolte growls “The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know.”
Brendan (Edgerton) meanwhile is teaching physics at a Philadelphia (and don’t think that aside to Rocky or The Fresh Prince of Bel Air is missed by me), raising his two daughters with Jennifer Morrison (most known as Cameron from House or Zoey from How I Met Your Mother’s latest season), and trying to figure out how to make his inflated mortgage payments before the bank takes his home in 90 days. His only answer is to fall back on his UFC background (he was a .500 Fighter back in the days before his kids) and fight in some local events. His standing with his father is just as precarious and when he decides to fight he contacts his former UFC trainer Frank to let him use his facilities and spar with some of the up and comers. While training with a main eventer, the superstar goes down and Brendan offers himself as the replacement for Sparta, thus setting up the eventual final showdown.
I know that some people will say that no new ground is being broken here but the story about the two brothers who don’t really even know who the other is and their drunken father trying desperately to reconcile with his family did make the story for me. This movie, about fighting, is cliche but not in a bad way. The fighting scenes seem accurate and exciting. While even the trailer will tell you that Tommy and Brendan will meet in the end, the journey to get to the last fight between brothers for the 5 million dollar prize is worth it. Seen through the eyes of his co-worker at school, his wife (who at first cannot stomach seeing her husband fight but can’t stand the not knowing), the wife of the fallen marine who Tommy pledges the prize money to, and Brendan’s students who take over the local drive in to watch their teacher fight, the movie makes the final match bittersweet. While you want someone to win, you (as a viewer) are torn between Tommy and Brendan. Tommy because you hope he can win so Pilar (Fallen Soldier cliche wife) can get the money to raise her children. Brendan because you don't want him to lose his house and part of you wants him to be able to stick it to the smarmy banker who insists that Brendan did this to himself. The fight is the climax of the movie but not the heart and at the end of the movie, you do have this feeling that things for both sides will work out.
There is real emotion in this movie and the story that packs a powerful punch (geez pardon that pun but I had to do it at least once) but I think it also satisfies the fans of MMA which seems much more interesting in this incarnation. I don’t think this will make me buy the next UFC pay per view but it gives me a certain respect for the sport. The family story is what sells the movie. You want the two brothers to reconcile and in some part you feel sorry for the old father who has lived a bad life and wants desperately to be forgiven by his family. The movie is summed up for me in one scene where Nolte goes to Brendan’s house and tries to have a conversation. As Brendan walks away, Nolte looks at the front door and sees his granddaughter’s, one of which he’s never seen, and cries out at them but they look at him and ask their father “Who is that old man?” It tells me all I need to know. This family is broken and oddly enough the violence that separated them is what brings them back together.
Mr. Unhappy Sez: Go for the violence, stay for the drama and for God’s sake don’t cry, ya pansies.
The All Too Important Golden Unhappy awards of Freedom
Jennifer Morrison - The I am sleeping in full makeup, perfect hair and these lovely bikini panties award
AND
The Perfect Ass Award (M.I.L.F. Edition) for concerned wives worried about their husband’s fighting whilst wearing only a t-shirt and panties
Tom Hardy - The I am a Broody Broody Brood Face Award
Kurt Angle - Ivan Drago Award for Russian Badassitude
Joel Edgerton - The You BEST Bring Me an Apple Award
Nick Nolte- The Lifetime Achievement in Growling Award
