Warrior (2011):

Starring:

Joel Edgerton - Brendan Conlon

Tom Hardy - Tommy Conlon

Nick Nolte - Paddy Conlon

Jennifer Morrison - Tess Conlon

Frank Grillo - Frank Campana

Kevin Dunn - Prinicpal Zito

Maximiliano Hernandez - Colt Boyd

Bryan Callen - Himself

Sam Sheridan - Himself

Noah Emmerich - Dan Taylor

Kurt Angle - Koba

Director:

Gavin O'Connor (Pride & Glory; Miracle)

Rotten Tomatoes: 83%

Flixster: 92%

Synopsis:

Tommy Conlon returns to his hometown of Pittsburgh and enlists his father, a recovered alcoholic and his former coach, to train him for an MMA tournament awarding the biggest purse in the history of the sport. Meanwhile, his estranged brother, Brendan, a former MMA fighter unable to make ends meet as a public school teacher, returns to the amateur ring to provide for his family after being suspended from his day job. When Brendan's unlikely rise as an underdog sets him on a collision course with Tommy, the two brothers must finally confront the forces that tore them apart, all the while waging the most intense, winner-takes-all battle of their lives.

Review:

This would have been the very first A+/50 had I gotten around to writing this before I saw & reviewed The Cabin In The Woods. This film has everything that I personally want in a film. The acting is incredible, it's a shame that Tom Hardy wasn't nominated for more awards for this role (maybe not an Academy Award, but other awards). Nick Nolte was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the father of Hardy & Edgerton. The story has an incredible back story with amazing emotions from all of the actors. The dark & secretive past of Hardy character brings a realism to the story. The action sequences are a little bit far fetched but in the world of Hollywood your not going to show fight scenes that involve ground game, winning on points or anything like that so having all of the fights be a tiny bit over the top isn't completely unrealistic. They also employed several UFC veterans to fight in some of the earlier fights in the movie. (Nate "The Great" Marquardt, Yves Edwards & Anthony "Rumble" Johnson). Jennifer Morrison (Cameron of House fame) is not only super sexy, but also gives a strong family presence to Edgerton's character showing what a man will do to help his family survive in a time where money is tight & you might have to put your body & health on the line to protect the ones you love. One of my top films from last year (even though I didn't see it until it came out on DVD towards the end of the year). I suggest that even if this doesn't look like your kind of film you see it simply for the powerful performances outside of the cage. This film also stars wrestler Kurt Angle as an undefeated Russian fighter named Koba but that doesn't help my argument to see it.  Bryan Callen has a small role as himself pretending to be Joe Rogan & Sam  Sheridan as himself pretending to be Mike Goldberg. Callen is actually pretty fun because he is the poor mans Joe Rogan & has a few pretty funny moments.

97%

Lead Acting: 15/15
Supporting Cast: 15/15
Plot: 9/10
Compared To The Genre: 10/10
Cinematography: 19/20
Intrigue: 19/20
Extra: 10/10