Warrior (2011)

Dir. Gavin O'Connor

Starring: Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Morrison, Frank Grillo

You would think that an early 2010's MMA-centered sports-action-drama would reek of "sponsored by Monster Energy and Five Finger Death Punch" energy - but instead we get a (mostly) mature family-drama that thrives on its writing and performances. We get into what is somewhat of a wonky screenplay with a few too many ideas, some choppy fighting sequence editing, and some questionable logic regarding how sports combat are portrayed - but somehow it transcends a lot of its flaws. We also talk about how this film exposed Austin to The National (one of Alex's favorite bands).

Drinks of choice for this episode: Urban Artifact 'Pinwheel' + Miller High Life