Stranger Than Fiction: "Warrior" and the Harbaugh Bowl

Can we all take a step back and think about what we saw last Sunday?  We witnessed sheer improbability, the kind that should only happen in movies.  I'm not talking about Joe Flacco leading a team to the Super Bowl or the 49ers coming back from being down 17-0.  I'm talking about the impossible fact that two brothers, born 15 months apart, are going to be coaching against each other in the biggest game in American sports.

Can you even fathom what the odds of that are?  Here, I'll give you a little help.  There are about 314 million people living in the U.S. right now.  Of those people, 32 were deemed qualified enough to coach an NFL team this year.  32 out of 314 million.  That equates to about 0.0000001% of the US population.  Out of that minuscule number, only two coaches go to the Super Bowl.  You want a visualization of that?  Here's a helpful graphic about the probability of winning the lottery.  You see that number on the bottom?  That number is more probable than the chances of any given person growing up to be a coach in the Super Bowl,  EVEN IF you take out the female population (not that they can't become football coaches...there's just never been one in the NFL).  So you can see, the fact that either of the Harbaugh's ended up in the Super Bowl is improbable enough.  But the chances of both brothers ending up with the last remaining teams in the same year?  Well, that's about the same as finding a needle in a stack of needles.

But this is why we love sports--it always provides the greatest of drama.  Sports headlines can be so crazy that even Manti Te'o couldn't fake them.  We've heard the mantra time and again: "You can't make this stuff up," or "you could not write a script like this."  The meaning is two-fold: (1) what you've just seen is so crazy that no one in their right mind could have possibly dreamt of it before just now; and (2) what you've just seen is so crazy that even if someone had thought it up before, everyone would've dismissed it as meaningless fiction.

Enter Warrior.

I was reminded of this little movie as soon as I imagined seeing two brothers face off in the Super Bowl.  I figured others might make the same connection, but after looking up how much the movie grossed, I realized that probably wasn't the case.  Warrior was released in early fall 2011 to critical acclaim, but poor box office numbers.  As such, it was out of theaters in 8 weeks, dismissed by the populace as meaningless fiction (that's a callback, y'all).

The set up of Warrior at first seems improbable, but may now sound familiar.  Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton play two brothers who were separated at a young age by different family loyalties, yet now find themselves battling their way through opposite sides of a mixed martial arts championship bracket.  Hardy plays Tommy (looking as scary, if not scarier, than he does in The Dark Knight Rises, and giving perhaps the best performance of his young career), a lifelong fighter who as a teenager had dreams of breaking the record of the legendary Greek wrestler Theogenes.  In the other corner, Edgerton plays Brendan, the older brother who never was as good of a fighter, but can still hold his own in the ring.  Meanwhile, Nick Nolte plays their father (in a role that earned him a well-deserved Oscar nomination), a former alcoholic struggling to regain the respect of his two sons.  The name of the film could apply to any of these characters, and we're reminded of it each time a referee starts a fight with the same three lines: "You ready?  You ready?  Let's go to war!"

The fighters eventually hear about the Sparta championship, a 16-person bracket meant to pit the best fighters in the world against each other.  Throughout the film, Sparta is constantly referred to as "the Super Bowl of mixed martial arts."  The creator of the tournament (played by director Gavin O'Connor, who one can argue has directed the two best sports films of the last decade with this and Miracle), gushes that "growing up, we always wanted to know who the toughest kid in the neighborhood was.  Now we get to see who the toughest in the world is."  Ironically, the two brothers end up in the tournament in different ways and make their way to the championship, shrinking the field back to the neighborhood once again.

Though we know where the movie is going to take us, Warrior is still able to turn old fighting cliches into a winning formula.  In most fighting movies, there is one hero that the audience connects with.  In Warrior, there are two.  By the time the two brothers meet in the final bout, we can't decide who deserves our fandom more: Tommy, the war hero who would use the winnings to support the family of his fallen friend, or Brendan, the struggling family man who needs the money to make his house payments.  We are reminded of a telling line given early in the movie by Nolte: "The devil you know is better than the devil you don't."  But what happens when your opponent turns out to not be the devil at all, but your brother?  The movie handles this question with a surprising honesty--a trainer states before the fight "he's not your brother...he's in the way,"--but it's an answer that creates an unusual moral dilemma.  Obviously only one can win, but the movie has enough drama and storylines that people sitting next to each other in a theater may just be rooting for different characters.

What the filmmakers could never have dreamed is that this fictional scenario could turn into our current reality.  The improbability of two brothers meeting in the championship is treated with stunned disbelief in Warrior, and this Super Bowl matchup deserves the same.  The comparisons are fun, too.  Jim Harbaugh is like Tommy: he's the younger brother with a feisty personality, a former quarterback chasing what he could never do as a player, and perhaps a better coach than his brother.  His 49ers have overpowered nearly every team in the last 10 weeks, and are favorites again in the championship.  John Harbaugh is like Brendan: the older brother who never had a professional career, but can more than hold his own when it comes to football knowledge.  His Ravens may have an aging defense, but they've seen everything before and are smart enough to adapt to each game.  And while their parents Jack and Jackie may not be recovering alcoholics or divorced, they do share one large problem with Nolte's character...who to root for.  How can they possibly choose?  It's amazing really: the Harbaugh's have taken what is traditionally a reason to get together with family and made it their own.  Like the characters in Warrior, they're playing a family game, but this time we've all been invited to watch.

If these comparisons mean nothing to you now, I'd suggest watching Warrior in the next week before the Super Bowl.  I'm giving it my stamp of approval, and I hope you'll be able to say the same.  You'll be surprised how moving it is, how raw the fight scenes are (seriously, I don't know how they filmed this movie without actually beating each other up a bit...here's an edited clip of the first fight just so you can see what I mean), how happy you'll feel after seeing Jennifer Morrison receive a text message, and how shockingly similar the story is to the Harbaugh Bowl.  By the time the announcer jokingly says to "lock up your china" because "the boys are at it again," you'll be sufficiently hooked, and hopefully you'll agree with what I've said.  

Even if you don't watch it, be prepared for the family battle of the century this weekend.  We've been given a rare treat as sports fans; a real situation seemingly based on a fake story.  This game deserves the ridiculous hype that it will receive, if only because I believe it will be as good of a game as Warrior is a movie.  So without any further hype from me, I'll leave you with these three lines:

"You ready?  You ready?  Let's go to war!"

For those interested, Warrior can be found on Netflix Instant.  As always, feel free to comment below.  Or don't.  Whatever.

Top 10 Of 2012

2012 may have ended over a half month ago, but it's finally time to post my Top 10 list of the 2012 movie year!  My delay is a product of certain movies not being released in the Twin Cities until last weekend (looking at you, Kathryn Bigelow) and the second semester of law school starting back up.  So please, only blame me partially.

Now I know what you're all thinking...how did Scott pass up such a perfect opportunity to make yet another Twelves pun with a Top 12 list?  Let's just consider it a New Year's resolution.  Or you could also say that I only saw 36 new offerings in 2012 (apologies to Amour, which has not been released yet in my area), and putting 1/3 of them on a top list just seemed wrong.  Just a small disclosure before we get to the Top 10: this list represents merely the movies that I enjoyed most this year.  It is not swayed by any awards show voting or critics choice list.  That being said, if you agree with some of these movies, that's cool.  If you don't, that's cool, too.  This list is meant to spark discussion, to give suggestions to others on what I believe to be the best movies of the year, and to get more readers (shameless blog plug!).  But without further ado, here are my picks for the top movies of the last year.


10:  The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Call me a sucker for angsty teenage drama, or for movies about kids who enjoy their English class, or even for Emma Watson, but The Perks of Being a Wallflower delivered on all of those things and more.  This movie starts out seeming like your typical high school movie about the nerd who gets picked on, yet finds other people who are like him.  But the third act takes an emotional turn that packs a wallop for any viewers willing to give this movie a chance.  With good comedy, acting, and especially writing by the novelist-turned-director Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower snuck into my movie-viewing heart and into my Top 10.


9:  21 Jump Street

You're going to have to take my word on this for now, but I promise this list won't be filled with movies about high school.  21 Jump Street was an early spring release in 2012, which means that it had pretty much no expectations.  But right out of the gate, this film proved that it was nothing to pass over.  This movie was the second in a big year for Channing Tatum (Haywire, The Vow, Magic Mike), but it was the first to prove that he has the comedic chops to carry a story like this.  Oh, and shocker, Jonah Hill is a funny guy too.  With a car chase that breaks every genre cliche, an actually funny Ice Cube, and cameos from members of the original series, 21 Jump Street took what little expectations it had and shattered them.


8:  Skyfall

Never in his 23-movie history has James Bond looked so old, and I mean that in the best way possible.  Skyfall was Daniel Craig's most Bond-feeling film, yet this movie still took brave steps in toying with genre expectations.  Steps such as Bond actually being shot (007 has been shot at 4,662 times in his spy career, yet only been hit once), Javier Bardem playing a bi-sexual villain, and a climactic scene that shan't be spoiled here.  But back to that "old" comment: Bond sports a beard for part of the film, can't shoot his targets, and contemplates paintings of warships being taken out of commission.  But with this world-weary spy theme, Sam Mendes creates arguably the best Bond film ever.


7:  Lincoln

From the moment the curtains part, you can tell that this film is an Academy darling.  Daniel Day-Lewis is perfect as the 16th President, and deserves every award that will be thrown at him.  But what makes this movie even more perfect is how it takes what could have been a boring story about collecting votes and turns it into a riveting tale of back room political drama.  The credit for this must go to Steven Spielberg, who is in top form here (or even to John Williams, who never fails to create a dramatic score).  The natural lighting, calm pacing, and the casting of great character actors for every minor part makes Lincoln a joy to watch.  While it may run a bit too long (Samuel L. Jackson was right on where it should have ended), Lincoln is worth the price of admission, as it's an important history lesson with modern ramifications.

6:  The Avengers

Of the three blockbuster superhero movies that were released this summer, The Avengers probably had the second-highest expectations (behind that little movie about Batman), but it was also the only one that exceeded them.  This movie was the most fun you could have in theaters the whole year.  When the heroes finally assemble on Nick Fury's invisible flying aircraft carrier (yea, it's that kind of movie), Joss Whedon's script takes off.  The jokes are whip-smart and the action well-paced.  It's a movie that has too much, but never feels like it.  Special credit goes to Tom Hiddleston (who has the most villainous smile since Jeremy Irons), Robert Downey, Jr., and Mark Ruffalo for suspending our disbelief and turning what could have been an over-the-top campfest into the second-best superhero movie ever (again, Batman gets in the way of everything).


5:  Les Miserables

For a story that spans 17 years, Les Miserables never once felt long.  Tom Hooper's risky, yet brilliant decision to remove almost all spoken dialogue and to have the actors sing live paid off with huge dividends in both the box office and in the story.  The obvious stand-outs are Hugh Jackman (who carries the entire film) and Anne Hathaway (who steals the movie with only about fifteen minutes of screentime).  But Eddie Redmayne and newcomer Samantha Barks deserve recognition as well for creating a tragic second half of the movie that lingers long after you leave the theater.  With its soaring musical numbers and bittersweet story, Les Miserables may well be my favorite musical of all time (though take that with a grain of salt because I'm not a huge musical guy).


4:  Life of Pi

I'm sure you've heard by now that Yann Martel's award-winning novel was considered by many to be unfilmable.  But if all unfilmable books turn out as good as this one, that's all Hollywood should make. Though there's no official award for it, Life of Pi deserves special recognition for being the most beautifully shot movie of the year.  And when I say beautiful, I mean b-e-a-utiful!  Ang Lee turns your typical boy-stuck-in-the-middle-of-the-ocean-with-a-Bengal-tiger story into a masterpiece of filmmaking.  A shout-out also to Suraj Sharma, who carries this film all by himself (with a little help from the year's best CGI).  With a heartbreaking story, an important message, and an ending that will leave you staggering, the fact that movies can be this good just might make you believe in God.


3:  Argo

You gotta hand it to Ben Affleck.  The guy could have given up and gone full Charlie Sheen on us a long time ago, but instead he decided to turn himself into one of the best young directors in Hollywood.  Argo doesn't pull many punches in creating an entertaining story.  From the opening raid of the US Embassy in Iran to the thrilling escape in the final 25 minutes, Argo is as straight-forward as entertaining movies come.  But as any good moviemaker knows, being "straight-forward" only looks easy.  Though he plays the main character, Ben Affleck makes the smart decision to get out of the story's way and let his other castmates drive the narrative and have fun.  Alan Arkin gets to play himself, John Goodman gets to make fun of the industry, and Bryan Cranston gets to yell like Walter White.  What's not to love?


2:  Zero Dark Thirty

It took almost a month for Zero Dark Thirty to expand nationwide, but man was it worth the wait.  If you thought Lincoln had fun political drama, you haven't seen anything yet.  This story is a decade-long narrative from September 11th to the day Bin Laden was killed (spoiler alert!), and you can feel the dreariness and numbing pain brought on by dead ends, deceit, and getting nowhere throughout the first half of the film.  The torture scenes are harsh, for sure, but not worthy of the controversy that some have tried to bring up.  What's more worthy of recognition is the inspired audio-only opening that reminds every audience member of the importance of this film and the climactic 30 minute raid, which perfectly details the suspense, bravery, and draining effort that went into finally attaining our goal.


1:  Silver Linings Playbook

I am notoriously stingy when it comes to giving a film a perfect rating.  I normally only give one a year, if that.  So credit Silver Linings Playbook for stealing my heart and legitimately deserving a perfect 10.  Everything about this movie just works: Bradley Cooper plays against type in the best role of his career, Jennifer Lawrence continues to rise up the ranks of the best actresses in the business, and Robert De Niro remembers how to act again.  Hell, this movie even has Chris Tucker in his first non-Rush Hour role in over 15 years!  Silver Linings Playbook is the only movie this year to earn Oscar-noms in every major category, and by that I mean Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, and Screenplay.  The last movie to do that?  Reds in 1981!  Now I'm not saying Silver Linings Playbook is the best movie in the last 31 years...I'm just saying it's really really good.  It will make you laugh, cry, and feel, which is everything a movie fan could ask for.  So hats off to you, David O. Russell...your little movie wins the top spot in what was a great year in cinema.


There you have it!  My Top 10 of 2012!  Do you agree?  Disagree?  Only watched the trailers and didn't read?  Feel free to comment below and look for more posts in the future (I promise I'm actually starting this blog for real this time).