For some reason I had always avoided Warrior, with no reason or thought behind it. It's not like I have a thing against screen violence. It's not like I have anything against any of the main or supporting actors. I just never thought about watching it.
It came to Netflix and I just thought why not. So put it on.
Firstly I was surprised that this was Tom Hardy after Inception. I had presumed it was an older film and when he was starting out, but this is not the case. It is pretty much (at the moment) in the middle of his filmography.
Hardy plays Tommy Conlon, quiet and brooding ex marine and junior wrestler that is after money to help support his fallen brother-in-arms' family. Not out for money himself but to try to right a wrong that he feels responsible for.
The dynamic between him and his father (Nick Nolte) is fantastic. Nolte, plays the ex-drunk perfectly and you feel for his attempts at retribution with his sons, but also understand their position in keeping their distance and general distrust of a man who caused so many problems in their lives.
Joel Edgerton (a face of someone that you never remember what they have done, but know you know them from somewhere! For me I think it will have been the Star Wars prequels but even then I am not sure) is the other brother that stayed in the area because of a woman (Jennifer Morrison) and the film builds on his family dynamic between both his wife and kids and the relationship between him and his brother and father.
Each actor is perfect for the role and the film is a lot more heart warming than I had expected from what I thought would just be a film about fighting. The the thing with most preconceived ideas is that you are usually well off base. (Prime example is how good Billy Elliot is, but many people avoided it because it is about dancing!)
While there is the journey of each character and why they fight, it looks mostly at relationships and how they can effect you deeply. Joel Edgertons character Brendan has been through his years of fighting to get to the family life we would all expect to see from a traditional sense. Stable job, family home, typical wife and kids ideas. The breaking point is money within the family but not because of a personal vice, but medical bills of your child. While the UK may not have the best health service in the world, I would always advocate for the NHS and the service that it provides. My main fear is what this family go through, which is the ability to provide for your kids as best you can. This may be a very specific problem to me and the stage of life I am in, but it gave me a very relatable character to empathise with where Tom Hardy's character was interesting and intriguing but I had no connection to him with any shared life experience.
I understand you don't need a shared life experience with any character in a film to enjoy it, but some films it can add to your experience of the journey that they are taking to get to the film act of the film.
The basic story is that both brothers are about to compete in a MMA tournament for money that will benefit their situation. Not wanting to spoil too much more of the film if you have missed it, I would suggest you make this a film to watch. While it contains violence, I would argue the title of Warrior is more to do with each struggle the character goes on to get to the film tournament and not just about the beating another person to win a fight.
This is a very good film, with some very good performances. If you have 2 hours 20 mins spare to watch the film you really should make the time. It is much more interesting than I had given it credit for.
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