F) The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Wednesday, September 14, 2011- 5A

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - 5A

'Warrior' fights bravely

By TIMOTHY RABB
Daily Arts Writer
How ironically fitting that a
story of dark horse Mixed Mar-
tial Arts fighters should be a dark
horse film. The
theatric tension
was unprec-
edented, all Warrior
expectations
having been At Quality16
dashed against and Rave
a rock wall of
spectacle. Lionsgate
It didn't start
that way, though. As the open-

"When I count to three you will awake, and buy me . a birthday cake!"
Following the stars

I ... told ... you ... not ... to ... drink ... that ... juice box!"


Fall TV schedule
would be lost
without big names
By PROMA KHOSLA
Daily TV/New Media Editor
If you can't judge a book by
its cover, you certainly shouldn't
judge a TV show by its stars. Yet
with the fall season upon us, I
find myself guiltier than ever of
this crime.
The worst part is that I was
utterly oblivious to my trans-
gressions until this past week-
end. I was doing some important
work - catching up on my
Entertainment Weekly - when
I learned that Nestor Carbonell,
who played the enigmatic and
ageless Richard Alpert on
"Lost," would be acting opposite
Sarah Michelle Gellar ("Buffy
the Vampire Slayer") on The
CW's "Ringer."
My previous interest in "Ring-
er": zero. But with the promise of
looking into Richard's naturally
lined eyes and shadowed face on
a weekly basis again, I was sud-
denly planning my Tuesday night

around "Ringer." Never mind
that Gellar herself is the show's
main draw because of her estab-
lished TV career.
It's not the first time this sea-
son that the key attraction of
a show is the star. I know I'm
hardly alone in planning to watch
"Person of Interest" just because
of Michael Emerson ("Lost") or
check out "Hawaii Five-0" last
season because of Daniel Dae Kim
(also "Lost"). Hell, I just decided
to start watching that show now
because I saw pictures of Terry
O'Quinn ("Lost" - will I ever
stop missing it?) and Masi Oka
("Heroes") on set. And would "Up
All Night" seem remotely promis-
ing without Will Arnett ("Arrest-
ed Development") or Maya
Rudolph ("Saturday Night Live")?
Suffice it to say this could
become a very dangerous habit.
In. the movie world, banking on
star power alone can lead to out-
right heartbreak. (I do apologize
if you, like me, spent money on not
one but two painful Ryan Reyn-
olds movies, "Green Lantern" and
"The Change-Up,".this summer.
We have no one to blame but our-
selves) In recent years, TV shows
like "Glee" and "Community"

that star ensembles of relative
unknowns have gained every-
thing from phenomenal success
to cult and critical adoration. TV
success has made some actors the
draw they are today - see "Parks
& Recreation" 's Aziz Ansari in
"30 Minutes or Less."
So why will I insist on watch-
ing "Ringer?" Why is it so hard
to care about "Revenge" (other
than the fact that it looks dumb)?
For the same reason you'd rather
hang out with your friends than
with a bunch of strangers who
just happen to be around. With
the media, as with real life, there
is undeniable comfort in the sight
of a familiar face.
But, as with real life, we also
have to step out of our comfort
zones now and again. So I'll con-
tinue watching crappy Alex Pet-
tyfer movies, but I'll also watch
"Pan Am" on ABC. Good friends
like Tina Fey will introduce me
to new ones like Jack McBrayer.
And as presumptuous as it is, I
will probably keep checking out
shows and films because of the
names carrying them, so long as
I promise to occasionally venture
into unknown territory. Besides,
all friends start out as strangers.


ing scenes rolled by, the crowd obsession with the audiobook of
chuckled at a melange of familiar Herman Melville's "Moby Dick"
sights and sounds - unforgiving add a powerful undercurrent
close-ups of the old, washed- that carries us through the entire
up trainer and his bitter chil- movie, reminding us that, as a
dren; the rattling of pill bottles drunken Paddy so aptly puts it,
and swishing of malt liquor; the "We are all lost."
financial problems and the cham- The rest of the characters and
pionship fight that promises to their unique struggles further
solve them all. But as "Warrior" address this theme. Tom Conlin
sets aside its cliched framework (Tom Hardy, "Inception") strug-
and gets down to the nitty-gritty, gles with a checkered past and the
the film's tightened grip on the loss of his Marine comrade. Tom's
audience is a reminder of what brother Brendan (Joel Edgerton,
- Paul Simon must've meant by "Smokin' Aces") faces the foreclo-
"the sound of silence." sure of his home and is forced to
juggle his time between a day job
as a high school physics teacher
and nights of MMA fighting in
Wariorsi~i, come strip club parking lots. These
out to M M A.. , goals and conflicts all coalesce
when a Wall Street banker leaves
his job and throws a five mil-
lion dollar purse into the cage to
The triumph of "Warrior" is in organize "Sparta," an elimina-
its seamless fusion of allthe gaudy tion match the likes of which the
elements of past blockbusters MMA world has never seen. .
with highbrow literature, mythol- Nolte's a sure stand-in for
ogy and the most honest, down- Mickey Rourke in "The Wres-
to-earth characters you could tler," Hardy looks like Rocky
ever hope to see. Former alcoholic Balboa's secret lovechild and
and estranged father Paddy Con- brother Brendan's mortgage
lin (Nick Nolte, "Arthur") and his deficits and job troubles reek of

every tale of drug addiction and
downtrodden sportsmen, art-
ists, etc. to come down the pike
since the first Shakespearean
tragedy. It's hard not to squirm
at how much you're investing in
characters you've already seen so
many times already. What makes
"Warrior" so special in spite of its
borrowed elements?
You invest in the characters
because - like the elusive human
condition represented by Captain
Ahab's pursuitofthe white whale
- there's something you can't
quite put your finger on. Some-
how, all these ill-fitting pieces
have formed a new picture. The
level of candidnesshere is beyond
words, and presented with such
innocence it makes even the most
subtle art house tragedies seem
too deliberate. Not to mention
an abrupt introduction to MMA
101, packed with as much brazen,
realistic violence as a PG-13 rat-
ing could ever allow.
Captain Ahab may have met
his match with "Moby Dick," but
don't let the gaudy veneer of cage
fighting grandiosity scare you
away: "Warrior" is a whale worth
chasing.

I. ml


Brad Keywell
Co-founder and director, Groupon, Inc. BBA '91, JD '93
"Entrepreneurship: The Time is Now"
Free! Open to the public. Register at http://www.epalooza.bus.umich.edu/
September 16,2011

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