Mark Wahlberg (back to camera), Christian Baleand Melissa Leo in The Fighter.
Film: There have been plenty of fact-based boxing movies and most get trapped on the ropes with sports clichés. But David O. Russell’s The Fighter is as much about “Irish” Micky Ward’s wildly dysfunctional family as it is about the fight game. Mark Wahlberg plays Ward well enough and it certainly isn’t his fault that he is outclassed by the brilliant Christian Bale as his crackhead, brain-addled brother Dicky, a over-the-hill boxer who devotes himself – at least when he is sober – to being Micky’s trainer. Also stealing every scene she is in is the great Melissa Leo as Micky’s manager-mom, and even Amy Adams is first-rate in an image-changing role as his blue-collar, bartender girlfriend. Look for this one to be showered with Oscar nominations. Opening this weekend at area theaters. — H. Erstein
Erin Joy Schmidt and Deborah Sherman in Goldie, Max & Milk. Theater: Karen Hartman’s comedy of opposites, Goldie, Max & Milk, is the tale of a single, unemployed, lesbian who has just given birth and is essentially clueless about how to nurse and raise a newborn child. So she calls on a lactation consultant, and an Orthodox Jewish woman named Goldie shows up at Max’s Brooklyn apartment, completely against Max’s sexual orientation, but obligated to assist her anyway. The play was a hit with the audience at this year’s 1st Stage Festival of New Works and seems likely to be again with the return of cast members Erin Joy Schmidt, Deborah Sherman and David Hemphill. Opening this weekend at Florida Stage’s new home at the Kravis Center. Call (561) 582-7503 for tickets. — H. Erstein
Justin Dello Joio.Music: The Dello Joio family says it has been making music for seven generations, and this weekend at the Kravis Center, there’s a world premiere from Justin Dello Joio in the form of a two-movement cello work dedicated in part to the memory of his father, the eminent composer Norman Dello Joio. Due per Due (Two for Two) will be played by Carter Brey, longtime principal cellist at the New York Philharmonic, and pianist Christopher O’Riley, best-known for his radio work as the genial host of From the Top. Also on the program are works by Bach (the Gamba Sonata in G minor, BWV 1029) and Grieg (the Cello Sonata in A minor, Op. 36). Justin Dello Joio’s work, to judge by the sound samples on his Website, is more modernistic than that of his father, and it has an aggressive energy all its own. Brey and O’Riley perform at 8 p.m. Friday at the Kravis Center. Tickets start at $20. Call 832-7469 or visit www.kravis.org.
Elmar Oliveira.The American violinist Elmar Oliveira, who recently joined the Lynn University faculty, is now appearing more often in local concert appearances, which gives audiences a chance to hear this Tchaikovsky gold medalist in recital and with orchestra. Most recently, he gave a big, powerful reading of the Mendelssohn concerto with the Lynn Philharmonia, and this weekend at the University of Miami’s Gusman Hall, he’s on the program of the Sunday Afternoons of Music. Oliveira, joined by pianist Robert Koenig, will play music by Walton (Violin Sonata), Beethoven (the Kreutzer Sonata, Op. 47) and Handel (Sonata No. 6 in E), which begins at 4 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $35. Call 305-271-1750 or visit www.sundaymusicals.org.