“Warrior” is a sports drama film made in 2011 and directed by Gavin O’Connor. The movie is about two estranged brothers who both show up as unlike entries in the Sparta mixed martial arts tournament; it encompasses their lives and their struggles, not only with their ex-alcoholic father but also with each other. 

“Warrior” comes with everything two-fold–two brothers, two stories, two underdogs on the rise, and too much intensity to be anything but a very well shot sports drama. It is a good movie for both men and women. Men will appreciate the grittiness of the MMA fight scenes, while the women will weep over the intense drama building up throughout the film–I know I did.

This movie displays two sides of the same sad coin. It’s a tribute to the struggles of the two types of American men: the family man and the soldier. Both of which, are warriors in their own right. Hardy plays his  role as the distraught ex-marine beautifully, which speaks volumes because his character, Tommy, doesn’t even speak that often. On the page, his words could read out in any way, but the way Hardy portrays this traumatized, pent-up, frustrated giant of a man perfectly intertwines with the path the story takes later on. Especially when it comes to the constantly tense and precarious relationship between Tommy and his estranged ex-drunk of a father.

Edgerton also plays his role well, as the devoted husband and father trying to keep the home that the bank is threatening to take from them. The Brendan that Edgerton shows us seems just a little too soft for the cage, until he throws himself back into it and then we see the true similarities and differences between Brendan and his brother.  The combination of the acting skills between these two actors, as well as Nick Nolte–who got an Oscar nomination for his performance in this film as the father–is really loosely bound braid. Brendan’s character didn’t have so much say in the father-son aspect of the movie, but the chemistry between Tommy and dear old dad was explosive.

Not only that, but the parallelism of the movie is well organized. The  way O’Connors switches from one brother to the next as the story progresses, telling each of their stories, showing both of their journeys and pasts and goals, it really brings the brothers together in the mind of the audience, even if they don’t come together until later on, when the real fighting starts.

That’s another thing I respect about this film. It isn’t a blockbuster, but as a sports drama, it allotted enough focus to each aspect of the genre: the drama and the sport. Though the first half of the film is mostly drama, once we get into the tournament, the shooting of the bouts is lively, kinetic, and very raw. It isn’t promoting UFC as this magical or mythical thing. It is showing what  the sport is: two men with different skill sets getting into a cage and proving who is the better fighter. That’s what the Sparta tournament was all about, finding the “toughest man in the world.”

Now, one of the most predictable aspects of the film is that these two unlikely entries, a soldier and a teacher, would end up in the ring together eventually, at the very end. And though the film followed a basically typical outline, it was portrayed by the actors and the director in such a way that really brought the movie out from the sad B rating. The end, to me at least, was too much of a cliffhanger to be satisfying. It left too many unanswered questions except, at least, the two that we would most like to know the answer to: who wins the fight? Even the happily ever after is questionable at the end.

Even so, it’s a great film, worth the watch. It’s currently available for instant watching on Netflix so I would definitely suggest taking the time to watch it and make your own opinions.