Warrior

From the outside this looks like a film with a hard edge. Family drama, alcoholism and mixed martial arts. Now throw in director Gavin O’Connor (Pride & Glory) and you might be expecting a tough 140 minutes (yep, 140 minutes) in the cinema. Its credit to O’Connor then that his film does not beat you mercilessly into submission, but tells its story in a much softer manner than you would expect. Warriors would actually be a more apt name for the production as we follow brothers Tommy (Tom Hardy) and Brendan (Joel Edgerton) who both find themselves competing in the same fight tournament. How they got there though forms the backbone of the film and each has a very different story to tell. There is some high drama here as the back story of the two brothers and their own estranged relationship is explained between bouts and the performance of Nick Nolte as their father is heart breaking. Films such as these are two handers, where the action in the ring has to be matched by the drama outside it. Hardy and Edgerton both look the part when it comes to the fight scenes and after reading about the numerous injuries they both suffered during filming its clear the testosterone must have been flying. On the dramatic front though Edgerton wins hands down, however that’s mainly due to him having the broader written character compared to Hardy’s mumbler. One problem the film can’t escape though is its convoluted plotting, with too many plot machinations to be believable. Plus Brendan, despite taking a pummelling in virtually every fight he's in, somehow manages to storm back every time and triumph mainly due to the advice from his corner to “breath”. Hmm, I’ll have to remember that the next time I’m having a dust up with Mark Coleman. Overall though, this is a good film and it’s a shame then that this has been such a box office disaster. It’s unclear as to why, but despite good notices so far neither Hardy or Edgerton are top box office draws yet. However, come the climatic showdown though (can you guess between who?) you’ll be rooting for neither man to lose and be marvelling at the fact that the 2 hour plus running has felt only half of what it is.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict

Clichéd scripting, but three winning performances from the leads make for some entertaining tough love. Rating: 7/10.