Drama. PG-13. 2 hours, 19 minutes. At area theaters.
One brother’s a schoolteacher who struggles to keep home and family together in hard economic times. The other’s a brooding brute, home from the war, living with his long- estranged father.
Both grown men have daddy issues hinted at in bitter, perfunctory conversations between the brute and his recovering alcoholic of a father.
“No more women for me,” the old man confesses.
“Must be hard to find a girl who can take a punch these days,” the son spits back.
There’s history here — hard-fought, hard- bitten history. Dad Paddy Conlon (Nick Nolte) is a man of principles, a former wreck looking for redemption. His boys, Brendan the teacher (Joel Edgerton) and Tommy (Tom Hardy) — two fighters once trained by Paddy — aren’t giving it.
“Warrior” is a straight genre picture, a fight movie of the old school. But it’s a mixed-martial-arts tale, and as such, it’s the best MMA movie ever.
Co-writer and director Gavin O’Connor (“Miracle”) is on sure ground with the battling Conlons, mixing loads of personal crises into a standard-issue sports drama. Brendan needs money to keep paying the mortgage, but fighting gets him into trouble with the school district. Tommy, a Marine of few words and much rage, just needs to fight.
Nolte’s Paddy resolves to train Tommy to get him ready for his bouts. The son isn’t having it. Hardy, the next “Dark Knight” villain, is a ferocious figure on screen. He plays every moment with a chip on his shoulder.
Edgerton, of last year’s “Animal Kingdom,” has to be a convincing physics teacher, a husband who lies to his wife (Jennifer Morrison) about his fighting, a man at the end of his tether and a convincing 30-something mixed-martial arts fighter. It’s a brilliant turn as he lets us see the wheels turning with every argument with his wife or boss, every scheme he can think of to beat a superior opponent.
“Warrior” is the first movie built around this new sport to capture the grit, guts, heart and pathos of the great boxing pictures. It may not be MMA’s “Raging Bull,” but it’s good enough not to embarrass itself or its sport.
