Warrior

Warrior is a 2011 American sports action film directed by Gavin O'Connor. It stars Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton as two estranged brothers whose entrance into a mixed martial arts tournament makes them come to terms with their lives and each other. Nick Nolte, Jennifer Morrison, Frank Grillo, and Bryan Callen appear in supporting roles. Real-life MMA and combat sports figures like Kurt Angle, Nate Marquardt, Anthony Johnson, Roan Carneiro, Yves Edwards, Amir Perets, and Dan Caldwell make appearances. The film was theatrically released in the United States on September 9, 2011, by Lionsgate. Although not commercially successful, the film received positive reviews from critics, with Nolte receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Plot A melancholy U.S. Marine Thomas "Tommy" Riordan visits his father, Paddy Conlon, a recovering alcoholic who has returned to his Catholic faith in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As a child, Tommy had to run away from Paddy with his dying mother due to Paddy being an abusive alcoholic, and has never forgiven him. Paddy tries to convince him that he has changed, but to no avail. The next day, Tommy enters a gym where he quickly knocks out Pete "Mad Dog" Grimes, one of the world's best middleweight fighters; a video of the fight goes viral on the Internet. Learning about a winner-takes-all mixed martial arts tournament called Sparta, whose winner will receive $5 million, Tommy asks Paddy to help him train for the tournament, but only under the condition that Paddy does not try to reconcile their relationship. Tommy pledges to win and then donate the entire $5 million purse to Pilar, the widow of one of his friends in the corps. Tommy's older brother Brendan, a high school physics teacher and former MMA fighter, is struggling to provide for his wife, Tess, and their two daughters. He had to mortgage his house in Philadelphia to pay for his younger daughter's open heart surgery, and is now in danger of losing it. To increase his income, Brendan starts battling amateur fighters for money. He is suspended without pay after details of his secret life spread around the school. Paddy meets Brendan in his driveway to try to reconcile with him, albeit unsuccessfully, and to tell him that Tommy is back in town. Brendan seeks the training of old friend Frank Campana and begins competing in smaller venue fights.