The Fighter / The Town

People always ask us, "Are there people really like that in Boston?".
You better believe it.

It has been an interesting year, 2010.... Can't say that I'll miss you - 2011 bring it on. As you may or may not know, we lived in Boston for the past 3 years and have made our way back to Tennessee. Boston has managed to stay with us and haunt us through film. One of favorite movies of the year, The Town, came out on DVD/Blu-Ray this week. I highly recommend it. Ben Affleck's 2nd time behind the camera doesn't disappoint. Unlike Gone Baby Gone, Affleck puts his acting shoes on for this ride. The Town follows bank robbers from the borough of Charlestown in Boston as they come to grips with their lives and the desire to get out the business once and for all. Affleck is good, but Jeremy Renner (Oscar nominated for The Hurt Locker) reminds me of lonely rides on the Blue Line on the T back in Boston. It's one of my favorites of the year with something for everybody. Go get this one. You won't be sorry.

This past weekend, The Fighter finally opened to wide-release. Straight out of the Boston suburb of Lowell, The Fighter follows the true story of two brothers struggling to bring honor to their city and their family, too. Mark Wahlberg plays Micky (with no - E) Ford, an up and coming boxer that is realizing his window of opportunity is shrinking, and he may actually be the boxing stepping stone he never intended. Wahlberg like Affleck a Boston native takes a back like Affleck to his stellar co-star. The other brother is Dicky Eklund, former boxer and the "Pride of Lowell" after allegedly knocking down "Sugar" Ray Leonard years ago in a fight. Eklund is portrayed masterfully by Christian Bale, who is a far cry from Bruce Wayne as the washed up, crackhead has-been. While Bale's thick Welsh accent may creep through just barely at times, his Boston accent and spot-on portrayal of Eklund are the stuff of Academy Awards (Get a look at the real Eklund and you realize that Bale even toned it down some in his version of Dicky). Amy Adams does a good job as the love interest, and Melissa Leo leads a gaggle of Massachusetts women (Mother to Ward, Eklund and their 7 sisters) that are all-too-real. The movie is very good, not great. It's the total opposite direction from Director, David O. Russell's last movie, I Heart Huckabees. Regardless, I recommend it - 2 thumbs up.