"The Fighter"

This time of year I try to catch as many prospective Oscar contending movies as I can. I like to watch the Oscars having seen most of them.

I recently caught "The Fighter" on a friends recommendation. Good 3.5 out of 4 star movie. Manages to avoid most of the hoary "Rocky"-style fighter movie tropes. Christian Bale is definitely due supporting actor consideration as the big brother/former fighter/crack addict/sometime trainer of Mark Wahlberg's aspiring welterweight champion character.

Wahlberg's good, as is Melissa Leo, downright scary as the mom, a harridan harpy from hell. Both are good but Bale is great.

If I were a resident of Lowell, Mass. where the true events depicted take place, I would be offended by the casting of the townspeople, the most grotesque cast of characters since Richard Avedon's "American West" portraits.

Russell is best remembered for his superb "Three Kings," first and arguably best of the Gulf War movies.