WARRIOR
4 out of 5 stars

“you talking about sparta? brendan, please. you got a better chance of starting a boy band.” – brendan’s trainer/coach

you can tell brendan's coach has a lot of faith in him... :P  the acting in this movie wasn’t as good/refined as in the fighter, but nick nolte really shines as a reformed alchy dad in this pugilist movie about two brothers who become MMA (mixed martial arts) fighters. :)

so, we’ve got the conlon brothers, tommy (british actor tom hardy whose been in inception and starring as bane in the soon-to-be new batman) and brendan (aussie actor joel edgerton). tommy was a marine who served in the corps, and brendan is now a high school physics teacher, who moonlights as a MMA street fighter in crappy parking lot fights. tommy moves back home with his dad, but joins a neighborhood gym to release some steam. he ends up fighting a guy named “mad dog” grimes, nearly kills the guy, and becomes this youtube sensation in the UFC fight world. brendan, on the other hand, works his way up, and when he’s suspended for his second gig, he has no choice BUT fight because there is no other way to make his house payments and such. they both end up in some tournament called SPARTA, and of course, brendan’s got his eyes on the prize (money), and you wonder if he’ll even try and take down his bro to get it? to add fuel to the fire, there’s a lot of bad blood between tommy, brendan, and their dad paddy because of their past re: their mother and paddy’s abusive ways, and being that it’s a lionsgate movie, emotions run deep... (expect tears)

both tom hardy and nick nolte really make this movie worthwhile because their scenes together show true emotion and tension so thick- you can cut it with a knife! paddy (nolte) tries sooooo hard to patch things up with his son tommy and later brendan, but these boys just won’t forgive their father for their own personal reasons. it’s a very gritty film... like i said, not as good/refined as the fighter (comeon, not a fair fight with bale in it), but the movie had a better story. my only gripe is that i didn’t feel tommy’s character was developed as much as brendan’s, but at the same time, brendan could have AND should have been played by someone else with more punch. pardon the pun... ;)