Bruised But Not Broken- Warrior Review

Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton face-off for one final bout in "Warrior"

Warrior: Two brothers, both with the weight of the world and their past on their shoulders, enter the cage. Only one may leave with the five million dollar prize.
     "Warrior" is an action-packed drama about a pair of brothers both traumatized by their shattered childhoods, who now are trying to redeem themselves in the tumultuous and dangerous ring of mixed martial arts. One brother, Tommy (a mercurial Tom Hardy), a  shaken, returning veteran from the Iraq War, and the other Brendan (Joel Edgerton) a high school physics teacher haplessly trying to pay the mortgage.They along with their father (played with sweet sadness and unbridled fury by Nick Nolte) try to use fighting to fix their troubled pasts, but also to embolden their fleeting futures.

     In an age when more and more people whine and complain that the movies they see don't reflect their regular American values, and that things like "The Blind Side" are the only antidote, "Warrior" goes a long way to remind that movies with heart need not check their intelligent dramatic tension or their fierce emotional performances at the door. This film written and directed with great blue collar gumption by Gavin O'Connor ("Tumbleweeds" and "Miracle") is muscular, taut film with some amazing performance to buoy even its silliest moments.


     Hardy, after blistering work in his breakthrough "Bronson," "Inception," and this year's "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," cements his status as one of the best young actors to watch. His Tommy is a coiled spring of bitter self-loathing and fierce determination. He enters the ring without any fanfare, and works out his demons and his pain on his opponents. His frame, packed heavy with muscle weighs on his every motion making his ambivalence to his sudden notoriety even more heartbreaking. You can see Hardy's face try as much as he can not to break down in tears at every moment.

     Similarly Edgerton, a familiar face in his native Australia, is moving as the more sensible brother with a family to support. He wants to do the "respectable" thing (teaching) to help pay his mortgage, but he knows that what he loves, this barbaric and intense battle royale is his only option left.

     The real champ of the picture for me is Nick Nolte. We know Nolte can act; that's not a surprise after many decades and two Oscar nominations under his belt, but after years of his own personal alcoholism to have him play this particular recovering alcoholic something seemingly brand new. Nolte's Paddy never seems to be able to find his place. He goes to church, but his faith feels superficial. He tries to interact with his boys, but they want nothing to do with him, even though Tommy asks to train him. He's like his own version of King Lear struggling to understand why his children don't love him barely able to articulate his own grief.

    At two hours, the film doesn't feel long in the tooth either. The set-up is quick, the battles fierce, and the ending is almost operatic in its heightened drama and pathos. Shame on all of us for missing this when it was in theaters the first time, but now out on DVD, we all can get our own second chance in the ring. Grade: A-