The Fighter (2010)

David O. Russell made a boxing movie where the fights in the ring are the least exciting part. Mark Wahlberg plays Micky Ward like a man waiting for a break in the conversation that never comes, which fits the story but leaves a hole in the middle. Around him, the film is on fire. Christian Bale plays Dicky, the brother still living off one famous night in the ring, as a jittery comet who can’t sit still, and the film treats his addiction honestly, with no jokes and no shortcut montage. Melissa Leo runs the family like a general from a kitchen table, backed by a squad of sisters who move as one unit and agree on nothing except distrusting Charlene. Amy Adams plays Charlene as the only person willing to say the obvious out loud. An 8.2 because the family is unforgettable even when the boxing story is pretty standard. $24.05 says you finish it and start an argument about whether Dicky really knocked Sugar Ray down.

What works: Christian Bale’s wired, heartbreaking Dicky, Melissa Leo’s iron-fisted mom and Amy Adams’s tough Charlene make every family scene crackle.

What doesn’t: Mark Wahlberg’s Micky is so reserved he feels like a bystander to his own comeback, and the boxing arc follows a very familiar sports-movie path.

Who it’s for: Fans of boxing movies who care more about the family drama outside the ring than the punches inside it.