90-second Movie Review: Warrior is the Ultimate Fight Movie

 Fight movies are an enduring cinematic subgenre. Requiem for a Heavyweight (Anthony Quinn),  Raging Bull (Robert De Niro), the Rocky series (Sylvester Stallone), Cinderella Man (Russell Crowe), and Fight Club (Edward Norton and Brad Pitt) are the standouts. But let's not forget The Quiet Man (John Wayne) and From Here to Eternity (Montgomery Clift), in which boxing is the powerful subtheme.

These are all great movies, full of pain and heartbreak, but they are little more than animated Disney flicks compared to Warrior, Gavin O'Connor's ultimate fight movie, released in 2011.

 Nick Nolte plays Paddy, a ravaged and lonely old man who lost his wife and two sons due to his alcoholism and abuse. Joel Edgerton plays Brendan, Paddy's older adult son.  Brendan tries to build a sane life as a school teacher with a wife and two children, and wants nothing to do with his father. Tom Hardy plays Tommy, Paddy's younger son, hopelessly alienated from both his dad and older brother. We learn that Tommy and his mother escaped from Dad and fled to the West Coast when Tommy was a youngster. Mom died in degraded poverty, and Tommy joined the Marines.

Both of Paddy's sons are deeply traumatized by their childhoods and utterly estranged from their father. Filled with existential anguish and seething anger toward Paddy, the sons collide in a shockingly violent mixed martial arts tournament. 

Nolte, Edgerton, and Hardy all deliver outstanding performances, as does Jennifer Morrison, who plays Brendan's devoted wife. It is Hardy, however, who stands out. His face exquisitely conveys Tommy's rage, pent-up violence, and psychic pain.

Warrior may be Tom Hardy's greatest movie performance, and that's saying something. His character conveys a message we should all take to heart, which is this: People who survive abusive childhoods carry scars that never completely heal.

Pain

 

Never try to stare down an alligator: Ukraine clusterbombs the Russians

Years ago, I was a single dad. My children lived in Massachusetts but spent summers with me in Louisiana.

During this time, my children and I occasionally visited Avery Island, where Tabasco hot sauce is made. Avery Island was also known for the alligators that roam free in a park-like setting. My son was fascinated by them, alligators being uncommon in Boston.

One day we spotted a 3-foot alligator sunning on the banks of a bayou. My son, perhaps 11 years old, approached it warily, creeping slowly toward the gator. I watched this encounter and felt sure the alligator would retreat once my son came close enough to make it feel threatened.

After a few moments, my son edged to within three feet of the little alligator. At that point, I felt sure the alligator would run away.

To my shock, the alligator stepped forward, coming within a couple of feet of my son. The alligator was sending a message, much like Robert De Niro‘s character sent in the movie Taxi Driver. "You talkin' me?"

My son and I learned a lesson that day: Never try to stare down an alligator, even a tiny alligator, because alligators know no fear.

Ukraine, NATO, and the United States are trying to stare down Russia. If they can just put enough pressure on the Russians--the allies seem to be telling themselves--the Russians will back off and leave Ukraine.

So far, that hasn’t worked, even though the Western alliance keeps escalating the military conflict. A few days ago, the Ukrainians began cluster bombing the Russians with munitions supplied by the U.S. Earlier this month, they attacked the Kerch bridge linking Crimea to the Russian mainland.

No one seems to realize that Russia is an alligator that can’t be stared down. No one seems to recognize how ruthless the Russians can be. Apparently, our military and political leaders have not read 900 Days, the story of the siege of Leningrad. Nor have they read Enemies at the Gate, which recounts the tale of the siege of Stalingrad, when Russian political officers shot soldiers who refused to attack German trenches.

 And the NATO honchos haven't seen enough movies. If they need a refresher course on Russian brutality, they should see Child 44, starring Tom Hardy.

America should withdraw its support of the war in Ukraine. This stupid and senseless war has already killed thousands of Ukrainians and Russians. Every escalation, including the introduction of cluster bombs, brings the United States and Russia another step closer to a global economic crisis or nuclear war.

Americans should realize that it will not be the Biden family who suffers if the war triggers an economic cataclysm. That gang of grifters have their money salted away in offshore bank accounts prudently hedged against an economic downturn.

Nor will Joe Biden’s grandchildren be called to fight in Europe if the Ukrainian war gets out of control. No, it will be the children and grandchildren of the people living in Flyover Country who will suffer and die if the Ukrainian misadventure blossoms into an all-out war. 

The Biden administration is trying to stare down an alligator, and alligators can't be starred down.