Dynamic Warrior a Battle Scarred Familial Drama
Warrior doesn’t do anything new. The story of a pair of estranged brothers, one an Iraq war hero haunted by the conflict, the other a dedicated family man and physics teacher with an upside down mortgage and unpaid medical bills, both competing in a winner-takes-all Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) tournament, there’s not a lot in director and co-writer Gavin O’Conner’s (Miracle) latest that we haven’t seen before.
Tom Hardy (left) and Joel Edgerton (right) in Warrior © Lionsgate
At the same time, this tale of redemption, family and absolution is the real deal as far as entertainment value is concerned. The characters are honest and true, the fight sequences are brutal and raw, while the central themes being delivered in the denouement pack a major emotional wallop. This film works, and while I’m not entirely sure where all this Oscar buzz for the flick is coming from that doesn’t mean I think any less of the finished product or feel it should be anything other than a major box office hit.
Tommy (Tom Hardy) is the soldier, freshly returned stateside from fighting in Iraq. The Marine is wounded and lost, haunted by a tragedy he can’t put words to, seeking out a father, Paddy (Nick Nolte), he hasn’t seen let alone thought about in fourteen years. When he hears of a MMA competition with a $5-million purse he enlists dad to help him train. Not to talk about the past. Not to reminisce. Not to answer questions about what happened to his mother or what he was up to in the war. This isn’t about forgiveness or closure, it’s about training, and if the old man can’t be okay with that than he can expect Tommy to leave his life, this time for good.
Brendan (Joel Edgerton) is the older brother, a driven High School teacher with two beautiful kids and a loving wife, Tess (Jennifer Morrison), he’d do anything for. But his house is about to be repossessed by the bank, and not all of his youngest daughter’s medical bills have been paid. He’s drowning in debt and doesn’t know what to do, returning to the world of MMA in hopes to at least cover expenses and make sure his family’s home isn’t lost.
You can see where this is heading. Brendan and Tommy are on a collision course, the truth of the Marine’s time in Iraq will be revealed and Paddy will prove to be something far less dangerous and far more supportive than the monster both of his children have made him out to be. The only question is who will smackdown whom when the two men are forced to enter the cage and face one another down, the answer to that questions a beautifully mysterious enigma impossible to figure out before the first punch is thrown.
O’Conner orchestrates all of this familial madness magnificently, layering his characters with precision making all of them fully realized three-dimensional human beings audiences of all shapes and sizes will be able to relate to. I didn’t just know these people, in some ways I’ve walked in their footsteps, and while it’s impossible – thankfully – to relate to every little thing these men are going through that doesn’t make their respective journeys any less engrossing.
Hardy stomps through the film with a furious belligerence that’s impressive. He’s the proverbial bull in a china shop, sure, and yet the actor gives Tommy so many different shades discovering where the pain oozing out of every pour of him is coming from becomes a compulsive mystery I was frantic to learn the truth about. While he doesn’t say a lot verbally, the way Hardy moves, the way he shrugs his shoulders, even the way he breathes, all of it hints at depths and at hardships the viewer can hardly fathom.
Edgerton equals him, and while his role requires more in the way of dialogue that doesn’t make his performance any less stunning. What he says is just important as how he moves, the vice-versa also gloriously true. His eyes speak volumes, his movements the same, everything from the crook of his smile to the way his fingers run through his hair combining together to show just how far Brendan is willing to go to make sure his family is protected and their home isn’t foreclosed upon.
Much like he did with Miracle (and much like he did not with Pride and Glory), O’Conner stands back and lets this innately human story speak for itself. His direction isn’t flashy and it rarely calls attention to itself, the filmmaker understanding that the actors and the script are the major stars of this particular show. At the same time he isn’t inactive, and even though the film runs close to 140 minutes never once was I bored or felt like there was nonessential filler inserted just to take up space.
I was never surprised by Warrior, and by and large I knew exactly where it was heading. In the end, victory for the film doesn’t come in the ring but in the candid way it depicts its characters’ respective stories, in the way it handles its intense interwoven dramas of fathers and sons. O’Conner and his cast do themselves proud, the final product a galvanizing saga of pain and catharsis I’d be willing to climb into a cage or step into a ring myself to loudly sing the praises of.
- Review reprinted courtesy of the SGN in Seattle
Film Rating: êêê (out of 4)
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