WARRIOR

Warrior stars Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte and Jennifer Morrison. Directed by Gavin O'Connor. Rated PG-13 with a running time of 2 hours and 19 minutes.

Plot: Haunted by a tragic past, Marine Tommy Conlon (Hardy) returns home for the first time in fourteen years to enlist the help of his father (Nick Nolte) to train for Sparta, the biggest winner-takes-all event in mixed martial arts history. A former wrestling prodigy, Tommy blazes a path toward the championship while his brother, Brendan (Edgerton), an ex-fighter-turned teacher, returns to the ring in a desperate bid to save his family from financial ruin. But when Brendan's unlikely, underdog rise sets him on a collision course with the unstoppable Tommy, the two brothers must finally confront each other and the forces that pulled them apart, facing off in the most soaring, soul stirring, and unforgettable climax that must be seen to be believed.

Wow Warrior is a fresh breath of air in the sports drama category. Of course it's got some awesome fighting scenes but the acting is the part that really stood out for me. All the intense drama and seeing it unfold in the ring near the end was just plain awesome as a movie lover. Tom Hardy is probably one of the strongest actors working right now and his part as Tommy should earn him an Oscar Nomination. He's so intense and I really can't wait to see him join Christopher Nolan's Batman finale as Bane. Joel Edgerton does fine work but the other two actors stood out to me more.

Nick Nolte (who also deserves an Oscar Nod) gives a heartbreaking performance as a former alcoholic trying to reconnect with his sons, who want nothing to do with him. He takes their emotional abuse because he knows he deserves it. He was the reason his family split up and 14 years ago Tommy (Hardy) went with their mother and Brendan (Edgerton) stayed behind with their dad. Both were great wrestlers but dad, Paddy (Nolte) seemed to always take an interest in Tommy. So when Tommy returns 14 years later he wants his dad to train him for the big Sparta tournament but thats all he wants from him. Inevitably the two brothers will face off in the ring and I promise you that that moment is amazing. The beauty of this film is that you are rooting for both brothers and you want both of them to win, but obviously that can't happen.

Warrior has all the head-splitting, bone-crushing action you could want from a movie about MMA, but it is also great drama and you feel for each and every character. The ending is so unpredictable and you never know what's going to happen and that's another thing I loved about this movie. Great acting, great sports action. I'm going to predict that Warrior will probably be my favorite movie of the year and it is definitely one of the best movies of the year.

A