Most everybody’s got an opinion about Mark Wahlberg, who started out a pop idol as the lead man in the group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. His older brother Donnie was an original member of New Kids on the Block, which Mark himself was a part of at the very start. It was however on the movie screen Mark Wahlberg would make the biggest impact, both as an actor and a producer.
Here are a couple of movies worth checking out starring the Dorchester-born actor:
Shooter
Antoine Fuqua not only has an interesting last name, but he’s also directed a fair share of good movies, including ‘Training Day’ and ‘Shooter’. In the latter Mark Wahlberg stars as a marksman who finds himself involved in a plot to kill the President. The movie also features Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Elias Koteas, Rhona Mitra and Danny Glover and is an entertaining thriller/drama worth checking out.
The Departed
Probably his finest moment. Mark really knocks it – he’s from Boston, so I want to say out of the carpark – in this movie. His scenes with Alec Baldwin are all just pure gold. The movie, which finally landed Martin Scorsese an Oscar for Best Director, is a brilliant cat-and-mouse type movie with fast-talking cops, Irish gangsters, Boston accents, microprocessors, quick dialogue and foul language. Jack Nicholson is at his best, and Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Martin Sheen, Vera Farmiga and the aforementioned Alec Baldwin and Mark himself are at the top of their game in one of the best movies made after the turn of the century.
Ted
In the words of the infamous Monty Python: and now to something completely different. A foul-mouthed teddy bear is Mark Wahlberg’s co-star in this comedy (which spawned a sequel set for release this June) about John and his best friend Ted, the teddy bear. It’s dumb, stupid, but at times hilariously funny. Also starring Mila Kunis, the movie comes from the creator of Family Guy, Seth McFarlane, who also does Ted’s voice in the movie.
The Fighter
Mark Wahlberg teams up with Christian Bale in this movie about the boxer “Irish” Mickey Ward. Both Bale and Melissa Leo won Academy Awards for their roles, with Amy Adams also being nominated for an Oscar. Mark plays Mickey, whereas Bale plays his brother Dicky Eklund whose battle with drugs and crime is always on the verge of sucker punching both him and those closest to him.
Mark Wahlberg has shown his knack for business on the production side of the movie and TV industry as well, and I’d recommend checking out TV shows like ‘How to Make it in America’ and the more known ‘Boardwalk Empire’.
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