Warrior
Dir: Gavin O'Connor
2011
*****
There wasn't much buzz surrounding Gavin O'Connor's Warrior and I have to admit I had little interest in watching it when I first heard of it. I'm not much of a sports fan and I certainly don't like violent sports and even though I have a soft spot for certain films of its ilk; Rocky, The Wrestler, Raging Bull etc, I very much doubted it would be as good. I don't even know what MMA stands for, I just see violence without that certain honor that boxing has (or had). I was wrong. Again. Warrior is a fantastic film. I really didn't think you could tell another original, compassionate and compelling story in the genre but I was totally wrong, Gavin O'Connor has made an action packed sports film full of energy and touching drama. Along with his fantastic direction and the hard work and determination from Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton and not forgetting the heartbreaking performance from Nick Nolte, which he thoroughly deserved the Oscar for, it had all the right ingredients for a great drama, and it is a great drama. Definitely one of my favourite sports films and one of the best of 2011.