New Trailer for The Fighter: Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale Step into the Ring for 'High-End' Audiences

The first trailer for the The Fighter looked like a Rocky clone with a better cast. Nothing too offensive there, but it was a bit of a let down to those who had waited seven years for a new film from idiosyncratic hot-head David O. Russell. This new preview on the other hand is something of a masterpiece, with style to burn and overlapping dialogue edited well enough to Robert Altman jealous. But which one is telling the truth?

Besides being more sophisticated and daring in terms of rhythm, intensity and aesthetics, this trailer also does a better job selling the performances. The opening scene alone suggests that Wahlberg was born for the role of Boston fighter "Irish" Mickey Ward and that he can probably play earnest and blue collar better than anyone in the business at this point. Bale again looks like a good bet for a best supporting actor nod, not only because of his physical transformation, but because his role as Wahlberg's screw-up brother looks like his most lively, dynamic one in years.

Now here's the potential catch: According to Deadline this one was cut exclusively to run with the season finale of Mad Men, whose audience is, as described by a Paramount spokesperson, "high end, smart, and savvy." As in, the people who were probably a little disappointed with that first trailer.

We've seen enough fan edits of trailers in the last few years to show that they can can easily make a film look like something it's not. So did Paramount dumb down the first trailer for the masses? Maybe spokesperson actually meant to say that Mad Men fans were "high end, smart, and savvy -- but not so much that we can't use smart marketing to fool them into seeing a generic crowdpleaser."

Verdict: If the latter turns out to be true, that spokesperson was totally right. Sold.