dual personalities

For the Moby-Dick fans among us…

Still from the movie “Warrior”

Aside from the occasional martial arts movie involving either Tony Jaa or beautiful Chinese actors, I am not a fight movie fan. I especially don’t like boxing movies. You can imagine my trepidation last night when I (together with son #2) watched the 2011 MMA (mixed martial arts) movie, “Warrior”, starring Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton as the sons of Nick Nolte. It was surprisingly watchable, even good. Though the premise seems tired — two brothers overcome major challenges and personal problems including their history with their alcoholic father, to make it to the finals of a big MMA championship only to fight each other — it managed to avoid most of the usual cliches.

For example, the married brother (Joel Edgerton) actually has a good relationship with his wife, but the script-writer didn’t fall prey to the usual ‘good sex = good marriage equation’ to establish the fact, or as an excuse to include gratuitous sex. The other brother (Tom Hardy) is an Iraq War vet, yet PTSD isn’t mentioned even once. Refreshingly, the viewer is allowed to draw his own conclusions. The script and performances are subtle and restrained — no histrionics involved — although there are some good lines and even some humor.

Potential viewers be warned, though. MMA is perhaps the most violent of all combat sports and this movie is sure to make you wince and cringe. Brutal as the action is, however, this is no self-indulgent exploration of flying sweat and crunching bones; no violence for the sake of violence. On the contrary, the director obviously understands the sport and appreciates the skill of the fighters. “Warrior” is definitely worth watching.

And if you’re wondering what Moby-Dick has to do with this post, you’ll just have to watch the movie! Hint: the title of this post is a quote from the movie.