The Fighter is a good film about brothers and boxing.

I enjoyed watching the Fighter starring Mark Wahlberg.  The actors inhabit the characters they play on screen.   I forgot I was watching two actors, and I was immediately drawn into the llives of brothers  Mikey and Dicky Eklund.   Christian Bale co stars as Dicky. He is the older brother and trainer of boxer Mikey Ward.  Bale's performance as a crack cocaine addict is convincing.  He is a person who is trying to clean up his life and train his brother in boxing at the same time.  One of the most powerful scenes in the movie involves Dicky listening to one of his brother's fights on the telephone.  The boxing scenes are good.  Even though I knew the outcome of the fights being a boxing fan, it was still fun to see Mark Wahlberg throw punches.  Boxing is not just a physical sport.  It is also a mental sport that involves mental will power  and strategy.  The scenes between Wahlberg and Bale convey this very well.  Amy Adams is also very good as Charlene.  She plays Micky's love interest.  I like how their relationship develops in the movie.  Charlene is not easily accepted by the members of Dicky's family.  His family includes his mother Alice.  She is played well by Melissa Leo.    She is a woman who is trying to support her two sons at different stages   Dicky also has many sisters in the film.  They don't seem to do anything but sit on the couch and smoke cigarettes.   The strength of the film are the performances by Wahlberg, Bale  Adams and Melissa Leo, so these minor characters are okay.
  
This film features the song "Here We Go Again" by Whitesnake.  This is a great song  but it is not included on the soundtrack.  This is a minor disappointment.  The instrumental music played at the end of the movie is upbeat, but that is about all I can say about the music.  The Fighter is an entertaining  film with excellent acting performances.  It lacks memorable music that would make this film perfect.