We're going on record - Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg are the best things to come out of Boston since the Tea Party - because good and all as they are, there's nothing better than tea and sandwiches and biscuits and scones with cream and jam (What's that? Not that sort of party? Ah well, we're sure they had fun anyway). So it's great to see them reteaming following The Departed for a new film called The Fighter.
Based on the true story of Irish-American boxer Micky Ward, this is an underdog tale of Micky's rise to fame, aided by his half-brother Dicky, a boxer turned trainer who was nearly killed after getting involved in drugs and crime but rebounded to help his sibling. Awwwww. Ward himself was known for his devastating left hook to the body, and Rocky-like ability to take huge amounts of punishment and keep boxing. He turned pro in 1985, retired in the early 1990s but returned in 1994 and went on to compete in what boxing fans regard as some of the best matches the sport has ever seen.
The script for the film is being rewritten even as we speak by Paul Attanasio (of TV's House), from a rewrite by Lewis Collick, from a script by Eric Johnson and Paul Tamasy. Apparently the emphasis is now on "brotherhood and redemption" - presumably it was originally about kittens and cheesecake, after so many rewrites.
We couldn't be happier about seeing Wahlberg and Damon teaming up, and since they've always looked a bit alike to us anyway, it seems appropriate that they're playing brothers. And unlike The Departed, this time they actually get to hang out and shoot the shit instead of, you know, shooting people. Sounds awesome.