Most fighting movies follow the same formula. We get a guy who is a fighter who is down on his luck and is considered the underdog. No one thinks he has chance to win and the odds are against him. However, he proves everyone wrong and starts to win and will eventually lead to a championship round were no believes he will win but does. “Warrior” does it different because instead of having one underdog, it has two. Yes it does follow the typical fighting clichés, but it has enough elements in film that are worth liking for the audience to excuse this. “Warrior” is a very good film filled very memorable performances and heartfelt drama.

The first hour of the film tells establishes the tale of two estranged brothers. One is a former Marine who has recently returned to his hometown of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania after his tour of duty has ended. His name is Tommy Conlon and he is played by Tom Hardy. The other brother is Brendan Conlon (John Edgerton) and he is a high school physics teacher from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with a wife and kids. Each brother were amateur fighters in the past, but went their separate ways after their parents split up. Tommy went with his mother and Brendan stayed with his alcoholic father named Paddy (Nick Nolte).

Now each brother is faced with money issues. Tommy is out of work and needs money. Brendan is failing to pay his mortgage and needs money. Each brother decides to enter an MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) tournament with the hopes of winning large amounts of cash. Tommy recruits his father (now a former alcoholic) to train him while Brendan recruits a well known trainer to teach him.

As I mentioned earlier this is a story of two underdogs given the chance to win and film brilliantly makes us care for both of them. Each one is given good reason why we should sympathize with the Tom Hardy and John Edgerton characters and why we want them to win. This is what makes the film strong because it makes it more complex. We don’t want each of them to lose and it makes think “Who do I cheer for”?  That’s what makes it different from other fighting films because we only want that one person to win, but with two fighters to cheer for makes the film just a bit more suspenseful than other fighting pictures.

The three main performances and the chemistry between the characters are realistic, raw and emotionally effective. Tom Hardy is a name you probably don’t know, but he is a new upcoming actor who has the potential to be a major star because his performance as the troubled ex-marine is very memorable. He puts so much emotion in his performance that he makes you sympathize with him. The same can be said for John Edgerton’s performance because he too gives so much heart in his performance that you sympathize with him as well. He also has some effective scenes with his wife played by Jennifer Morrison.

Nick Nolte is perfectly cast as the alcoholic father and he gives one his best and most memorable performances in recent memory. I just wish they could tell more about his back story because I wanted to see why the brothers resent him. We are only given hints as to why but we don’t see any definitive evidence. That’s just a small complaint, but Nick Nolte is very good here. He has one effective scene with each brother individually and it helps add to the emotion of the picture. This is because watching him try to restart a relationship with his sons is heartbreaking to watch when it doesn’t go the way he wanted to.

The fight sequences are very well choreographed and feel authentic thanks to director Gavin O’Connor. He films them with gritty energy and makes us feel we are in the MMA ring. Also Hardy’s and Edgerton’s sympathetic personalities make the fight sequences worth caring about. O’Connor knows how to add tension to a sports film because he proved it with his other sports film “Miracle”. We already knew how it ended, but it was still suspenseful. We can already guess what the climax is, but the fight sequences getting there are where O’Connor is strong because he films those scenes with great tension.

“Warrior” can rank with the best fighting movies made in the last few years. That includes a field of films like Ron Howard’s “Cinderella Man” and David O’Russell’s “The Fighter”. Each of those films has good heartfelt family drama and well choreographed fight sequences. MMA fans will like this movie and anyone who is fan of sports films will like it. “Warrior” is a good start to the fall movie season.

***1/2| PG-13| 140 Minutes