Warrior

Warrior is a 2011 American sports drama film directed by Gavin O'Connor and written by O'Connor, Cliff Dorfman, and Anthony Tambakis.

Summary
The youngest son of an alcoholic former boxer returns home, where he's trained by his father for competition in a mixed martial arts tournament - a path that puts the fighter on a collision course with his estranged, older brother.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) It doesn’t only rely on mixed martial arts and boxing as the film’s theme, it also relies on real-life issues like broken families and alcohol addiction.
 * 2) The acting in this movie is amazing and powerful, especially from Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy, and Nick Nolte.
 * 3) The backstory/relationships of Brendan, his younger brother, Tommy, and their parents is very heartbreaking and tragic.
 * 4) The cinematography is wonderful and fits the tone of the movie very well.
 * 5) Interesting and relatable characters, such as Brendan Conlon, Tommy and their father, Paddy.
 * 6) All of the scenes are well-executed and are either very dramatic, heartwarming, and/or awesome, such as the scenes where Brendan is fighting in the cage with other components.
 * 7) The idea for the movie is some very original writing.
 * 8) Gavin O’Connor has shown to have great skills as a director.
 * 9) The separate and different lives between Brendan and Tommy are some wonderful forms of symbolism.
 * 10) The ending scene is just beautiful.

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 83% based on 189 reviews, with an average score of 7.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Warrior relies on many of the clichés that critics of the genre love to mock — and it transcends them with gripping action, powerful acting, and heart."