Sleeper Recs: Warrior

“Sleeper Rec” Rules:

• · Not nominated for Best Picture.

• · Under $200 Million U.S. Box Office.

• · Regardless of genre, I’d recommend these films to almost anyone.

Year Released: 2011

Runtime: 140 minutes

Directed: Gavin O’Connor

Produced: Gavin O’Connor, Greg O’Connor, David Mimran, Jordan Schur

Starring: Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Morrison, Frank Grillo

Oscars: Nominated: Best Supporting Actor (Nick Nolte)

IMDb Plot Summary: The youngest son of an alcoholic former boxer returns home, where he's trained by his father for competition in a mixed martial arts tournament - a path that puts the fighter on a collision course with his estranged, older brother.

Warrior as a Sleeper Rec

The Story and Characters of Warrior. Gavin O’Connor certainly knows his way around a sports movie, having previously directed the excellent Miracle. Despite this movie existing comfortably within that genre, O’Connor injected plenty of fresh ideas into the screenplay that allowed it to stand out before the cameras even started rolling. Firstly, this film is a terrific example of a two-act structure; the first act of the movie is dedicated to establishing characters, building friction, and giving each lead a profound reason to fight – the second act is the hour-long, single-elimination MMA tournament called “Sparta”. Another fresh idea that O’Connor infuses is the way that this film doles out information regarding Brendan and Tommy’s home lives, and what truly happened during their childhood; we don’t have the full picture of that until Sparta begins. Furthermore, we don’t get the full picture of what happened to Tommy until just before the final fight of the tournament. Instead, we are dropped right into these characters’ worlds while they are fully formed and already carrying the baggage that we slowly peek further and further into. Therefore, the final fight is not just a confrontation between Brendan and Tommy; the two of them are confronting their shared troubled past that has turned them into the men they are, sharing an Octagon and willingly beating each other for money. Along the way, the film explores almost every type of male insecurity imaginable, making its characters’ emotions accessible while commenting on their initial inaccessibility.

For a sports movie, this film is terrifically interested in character, and has terrifically pitched performances to sell their authenticity. Nick Nolte earns his Oscar nomination as Paddy Conlan, the estranged father who begins the movie having attempted to find peace in his life, only to have his children continually reject his attempts to reach out now that he is healed. In a rather tragic turn, he regresses in his sobriety and wholeness as his two sons progress closer towards their own healing; there are no easy happy endings in this family. Edgerton and Hardy make for a great pairing, with Edgerton creating the right kind of charisma and pathos to get us to pull for Brendan and share in his troubles and victories, yet Hardy turns in what’s probably the superior performance as the incredibly vulnerable-yet-reserved, traumatized-yet-independent Tommy, a searing performance that I wasn’t exposed to until after I already knew Hardy from much of the work he did after this movie. This film easily stands as one of the best that both Edgerton and Hardy performed in.

Technicalities. The grittiness of the story bleeds right into the filmmaking, with O’Connor embracing a lower-budget aesthetic to his more character-driven scenes and embracing the brutality of the ring in his fight scenes. The film drops you either right into or next to the Octagon and is edited so that the audience experiences both the frenzy of combat, yet the significance of every punch or reversal of position within the fight. The high-octane energy vs. proper orientation line is hard to watch, yet this film does it in a way that seems easy.

The Legacy and Meaning of Warrior. This is right up alongside Creed, Rush, and Ford v. Ferrari in terms of the best sports-based dramas of the 2010’s; what you’ll notice about those other entries’ elevation beyond “sport” into “drama” absolutely applies here. Warrior’s uniquely drawn characters, narrative tricks, and gritty aesthetic make what could have been a disaster in the wrong hands into a textbook Sleeper Rec. I can understand how this didn’t become a box-office hit, since it’s a sports movie that’s not based on a true story, and one that eschews a traditional happy ending – after all, our lead characters fight each other in the championship; everyone getting what they want is impossible. It has a rather downbeat feel throughout, tackling some heavy topics and not offering easy resolutions. I can also see why the Academy looked in other places when dishing out most of its award nominations in 2012, but the “underground hit” attitude of this movie has only grown as time has gone by and audiences have grown to look for something a little different than the standard sports film. Come for the MMA, stay for a wholly unique and character-driven entry into the genre.

John’s Highlight Reel

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• Introductions. This is less about a particular moment, and more a comment on the intentional pacing that the first 30 minutes or so of the film uses to establish character, setting, and motive. Not every movie is willing to be as patient, and the results pay off terrifically as the movie unfolds. Additionally, the crumbs of information that we receive as the movie continues along re-contextualize everything that we’ve been seeing, meaning that while our understanding of the characters changes as the movie goes, the characters themselves hardly do until the end.

• “Tommy’s back?” When Paddy goes to visit Brendan is when I realized I was watching something operating at a higher level than your average sports movie. The writing and the acting of what’s going unsaid is tremendously portrayed here, and it’s always a great confrontation when the characters are right and wrong in their own ways. If you’re wondering why Nolte was nominated for an Oscar for this performance, watch this scene again.

• Reasons to fight. This highlight pairs together with my first one, but I want to not only shout out the post-2008 commentary on multiple jobs not being able to pay for a house, but the withholding of Tommy’s reason to be fighting until the very end of the movie. We’re meant to believe he’s just a loose cannon (he is), and that reuniting with his father is affecting change within him (it isn’t). However, while Brendan’s motivation remains unchanged from about 45 minutes in, Tommy’s finally snaps into view with only 10 minutes left in the entire movie.

• “My brother was in the Corps”. Having Brendan and Tommy finally verbally confront each other just before Sparta begins, so that we can see not just how far apart they’ve drifted, but how they each stand by their own past decisions while condemning the other is a simple yet effective narrative trick. This way, their path to fighting each other in the tournament is inevitable. We’re also treated to great, restrained acting by both leads during this confrontation.

• Tommy in Sparta. His fight scenes are quick, brutal, and a perfect reflection of him as a character. That’s all there really is to it, and this movie doubles down on the fact that it is interested first and foremost in character – a rarity for this genre.

• The Boy Scout and the Bear. Brendan’s fight with Koba is the most exciting fight in the tournament so far and is the terrifically staged, you’ve-gotta-knock-him-out-to-win underdog scenario that is normally reserved for the final fight of any other fighting movie. We never lose our sense of place throughout this entire scene, and are aware of every punch and elbow thrown, and how the tide slowly turns back in Brendan’s favor. As soon as the fight is over, we immediately realize that an even more intensely emotional and drawn-out fight is coming up next; as an audience, we get even more excited, but as a sympathetic viewer our hearts sink a little.

• The boys are fighting again. This fight is just a brilliant scene; not only is it as excellently staged with even more frenetic yet not disorienting action as the Koba fight, but the emotional beats of this confrontation are very well pitched. This is the only way our leads can communicate and understand each other – not only is Brendan reacting to Tommy’s wild fighting style, but he’s also absorbing the years of unresolved issues they share and resentment they feel towards one another, before responding and ultimately disarming him. All through fighting. It’s really that well-staged, and as the film ends with them embracing after Brendan wins without any mention of the money, we as the viewers realize what the film was actually about.

Other 2011 Sleeper Recs

• Drive. This low-key thriller with high-key violence is when I first realized how much I love the mood and atmosphere of movies when they’re done right. Refn is in control of its shifting tone, taking us from an almost music video-esque pop fantasy dream into a gritty crime thriller with a mysterious and steely unnamed central character. Come for Ryan Gosling, stay to really appreciate the craft of filmmaking.

• Margin Call. This low budget yet exceptionally well casted movie is an underrated gem. The first film written and directed by J.C. Chandor, Margin Call details 24 hours at a large investment bank at the dawn of the financial crisis after an analyst finds millions of dollars in assets that are about to tank in value. This movie is heavy on jargon but is also a universally recognizable exploration of modern capitalism. Come for the cast, stay for the electric dialogue.

• Bridesmaids. This pushes the boundary of being a “sleeper” since it was a hit when it came out, but it has only grown in everyone’s estimation since. The cast is terrific, we were all introduced to Melissa McCarthy, and the script is wonderfully funny and touching in all the right moments. Come for the laughs, stay for the laughs.

• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. While I consider this among the decade’s best films and have done a full write-up, I want to tip my cap towards the fact that this is what most people consider the mature, intelligent, grim, bleak, utterly compelling spy film. Come for the mystery, stay for the exploration of spy life and repressed emotion.