MovieChat Forums > The Fighter (2010) Discussion > Wahlberg brings the movie down

Wahlberg brings the movie down

posted 11 years ago by victorherm54
20 replies | jump to latest

Marky Mark tried his best, and does "OK" in this, but casting a different/better actor as Micky Ward would've taken this movie to the next level. Actors like Christian Bale, Melissa Leo, and Amy Adams are at the top of their game in this, while Marky Mark is just simply not on their level.

On top of that, he doesn't really look anything like the real life Micky Ward. While he's in good shape, he's just too big, and couldn't they dye his hair and eyebrows to look more like the redheaded Micky or something? Not to mention he doesn't even bother trying to imitate Micky's kinda high pitch squeaky voice, which is fine, because if he can't pull it off then why bother, but I think a superior actor could've gotten the Micky voice and mannerisms down.

[–] venturaa 11 years ago

I thought he did a good job.

Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?

[–] coolbrett 11 years ago

I don't know anything about Mickey Ward, but Marky Mark always blows. Except for The Departed, because he was under great direction. He can't act like that on his own accord. I think even he knew he didn't belong with the rest of the cast in The Fighter. He came across like a fish out of water.

[–] knut_kobro 10 years ago

Are you serious? I guess you haven't seen P.T.A's "Boogie Nights". His performance is incredible in that movie. I can't imagine any other actor playing that part as well as him except for maybe DiCaprio.

[–] lwntgngr 11 years ago

The guy is a mediocre actor. I don't know why but he always irritates me. I hated him in Ted. Someone else could play that role much better.

[–] rscott24 11 years ago

"Someone else could play that role much better"

That's how I feel about all of Wahlberg's performances. He's torn between his career, his family, and his girlfriend...and that's about how deep he went into the character. I know he was supposed to be a brawler in his youth but I didn't even buy his boxing, he looked like his gloves weighed 40 lbs

[–] upekka 11 years ago

I whole-heartedly agree. If he hadnt been on the list of producers he wouldnt even have passed an audition. The guy's just too nice and carries no weight. He should stick to Ted and producing... Boarwalk Empire is fantastic.

[–] Alex_Hurricane_Higgins 7 years ago

" he wouldn't even have passed an audition"

Actually he may have due to star power.

[–] donnieperry99-538-403163 11 years ago

Mark Wahlberg did an excellent job. He held his own. And the character in this film is about a guy who is torn between family, friends, and girlfriend. You might say Christian Bale, Melissa Leo, and Amy Adams were the eccentric ones pulling away at Mark from each and every direction while Mark was trying to keep his head above water, continue fighting, and tried not i disaapoint anybody at the same time. Again, he held his own and did fantastic.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] gatorprincess815 10 years ago

I agree with the OP Bale and Adams swallowed him whole.

[–] SickBoy00 10 years ago

Yea Wahlberg's average at best in general, and despite having the "main role" in the movie, really didn't do much as everything happened around him.

What's most odd to me is that, despite all the supposed training Wahlberg went thru for this role, the fight scenes (especially the final one) were almost comically bad. Very, very choreographed, poor editing that showed just how slow actors were throwing "punches". Walhberg himself looked like he's never even thrown a punch before.

[–] CptHowdy87 10 years ago

My Dad's been an avid boxing fan for 40 years and heavily scrutinizes the legitimacy of the portrayal of boxing in movies and he said Mark Wahlberg was alright, not great by any means but more than passable and that the boxing scenes in the movie were properly kept short and well edited. There was what? 3 fights in the movie? 2 of them were short fights and we saw maybe between 30 seconds to 2 minutes of the fist 2 fights and very quick edits and close-ups of Wahlberg's boxing. The final fight which went, I think, 12 rounds showed maybe 3-4 minutes total of boxing and, again, the shot's of Wahlberg boxing were all quick edits and shown close-up and they probably used a real boxer in some of the longshots.

It's clear that Wahlberg and Bale both did train and prepare pretty well for this movie in regards to the boxing. The scenes of them sparring and hitting the pads and the boxing bags and spped ball all looked pretty legit to me and my Dad echoed those sentiments. Try hitting a boxing speed ball the way Wahlberg does and tell me that's easy to do. Overall, my Dad and I agreed that Wahlberg did a pretty good job. Not as good as Daniel Day Lewis in The Boxer but one of the better boxing performances for sure.

[–] salvador_1980 10 years ago

DOR wasted Wahlberg in this role, Mark didn't have much to do. Watching the film, it was obvious that the Director made the film for every other character but Micky Ward.

[–] HalBanksy 9 years ago

It's true that Wahlberg was completely out of his depth here.
I was actually pleasantly surprised by his performance, but still Bale, Adams and Melissa Leo made him look completely mediocre. He just plays everyone scene with the same confused look on his face (not just this film - basically every movie he's in, it constantly looks like he's doing mental long-division.)

[–] MortimerSpice 10 years ago

Another actor? Don't you realize that the only reason there was ever a movie made about ward was because mark whalberg liked ward. Ward was never a household name, only boxing fans knew of him.