If the rippling, bare-chested torsos of Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy adorning the film\'s poster don\'t serve as a warning to those put-off by violent fare, then the title Warrior surely will. The film takes place in the world of mixed martial arts, where hard-as-nails men kick, punch and grapple with each other for real, in front of hundreds of frenzied onlookers. But just because the story is awash with biceps and abs doesn\'t mean it lacks brains or heart. Warrior is set against a backdrop of the US in post-industrial decline, with a nod towards the grim surroundings depicted in Rocky or The Deerhunter during the late 1970s. It begins with the resentful Tommy (Hardy) paying a visit to his father for the first time in 14 years. We learn that Paddy (Nolte) was an alcoholic and a woman-beater, who forced Tommy and his mother to flee. Being free from him meant accepting a life of poverty and other miseries, however. Meanwhile, the elder son Brendan still lives nearby, unaware that his brother has returned. A schoolteacher and family man, his finances are in dire straights and the bank is threatening to take his house away. Trained by their father, both men began wrestling competitively in their teens - so when a US$5m (Dh18.4m) winner-takes-all MMA tournament is announced, the pair are unwittingly set on a path towards reuniting in the ring. The film\'s three lead actors each give exceptional physical and emotional performances, but Nolte\'s regretful father is surely the finest example of fragile masculinity since Mickey Rourke\'s turn in The Wrestler. There are many obvious plot contrivances employed to bring the brothers together, but they feel utterly forgivable in light of the heartbreaking human drama - not to mention backbreaking fight sequences - which they allow.