A month or two ago I heard about a project Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon were reuniting for called The Fighter. The man formerly known as Marky Mark is set to play a Bostonian boxer and Damon his trainer-brother. As a fan of the sport, I'm always looking forward to a good boxing flick, and the pairing of the actors was music to my ears. Tuesday I read that Darren Aronofsky, the uncompromising writer-director who gave us Pi, Requiem For A Dream and my favorite film of 2006, The Fountain, is in negotiations to direct. Wow ... didn't see that coming. Nice to see Aronofsky stretch his legs in a different direction. Somehow, some way amidst all of these reports I missed what is easily the most exciting element of the project: that Wahlberg is playing the tough-as-nails Micky Ward.

Many people -- like me -- were introduced to Ward through his three legendary bouts with the great Arturo Gatti. Gatti and Ward were two crowd favorites because they never ran from a fight and both took some tough-to-watch beatings in the ring. In other words, they have a ton of heart. The first Ward-Gatti fight has been hailed "Fight of the Century," and Ward-Gatti II and III are nothing to sniff at either. Memo to Aronofsky: If you can get Benicio Del Toro to play Gatti, the entire boxing fan base (whom I decided a few minutes ago I speak for) will love you.

I imagine the film will also spend some time on Dick Eklund (Micky Ward's older brother to be played by Damon) and his battle with drugs. Eklund fell on such hard times he ended up on a memorable HBO documentary called High on Crack Street.

Rough and tough Boston streets, Rocky-like underdog story and drug addiction. With this kind of pedigree, I'm expecting great things. Damon may not have won an Oscar playing a genius, but he might have a better shot by playing a crackhead. As for Wahlberg, he is perfectly cast (although he and Damon could easily have switched roles) and he broke his Oscar cherry this year with his nomination for The Departed. I don't know if Aronofsky's film is an Oscar shoo-in, but it sure does have a fighter's chance.

Recommend (0)

|  Comments (0)

|  Email

|  Share

Share  Facebook Digg del.icio.us