Couldn't get the rights to the Scandal song for the theme? Shame ... : "Warrior"

Come on ... you know you love some Patty Smyth. Enjoy.

Like a lot of people, I didn't really pick up on this tale of ultimate fighting fun last year. But I recall reading later that it wasn't too bad, and then everyone's favorite mugshot got an Oscar nomination. Well, if Four Leaf Tayback is getting praise, then I really need to take a peek. It also didn't hurt that I loves me some Tom Hardy, the best guy by far in "Inception." And this is coming from someone who respects Leo and has a slight bromance with Joey Gordon-Levitt.

"Warrior" got me almost from the start. We meet ne'er do well Hardy as he comes home to dad Nolte's house -- apparently after Mom died. Meanwhile, Nick's other son (Joel Edgerton) is a teacher trying to get by with his wife and daughter. Seems happy enough, certainly compared to his brother's brooding. So it's clear from the get-go where each guy is coming from. Oh, and wouldn't you know it? They're both fighters. If only this took place it some gritty state like Pennsylvania. Wait, it does? Well, there you go.

Soon enough, we see how both guys' fightin' leads them toward the same goal: a big payoff in the Octagon in that second-most regal of pugilistic locales, Atlantic City. They take different and intriguing paths, but you see the collision course coming from a mile away, and you can't help but wonder how this will all work out.

The director here also did "Miracle," the 1980 Olympic hockey movie. So there's some rah-rah here and maybe a bit more polish than I'd prefer. Is it a little Disney? Maybe. Plenty of implausibilities; let's just say there's a fight that makes Daniel LaRusso beating Dutch seem positively reasonable. It's also a bit long, although to cut too much would probably make it even harder to swallow.

Even so, I ate it up. Pretty high on the suspense scale, and solid performances throughout. Nolte has the crusty bit down pat, and adds plenty of pathos here. Jennifer Morrison as the teacher's wife isn't hard to look at. And then there are our leads. Sure, Hardy's a Brit and Edgerton is an Aussie. They still manage the hardscrabble Pennsylvania act OK.

Hardy might have been a little better, and he was an absolute beast in the ring. Seriously. In "Inception" I didn't think of him as particularly big and tough. Since then, we've learned he'll be the villain in the next Batman movie. Even so, his bulk and brutishness here surprised me ... in a good way. Add Edgerton's slighter build and underdog status -- he's older, too -- and it's a good mix, even if you ask the audience to except a bit more than logical.

So yeah, you could do worse than "Warrior." Not as good as "The Road Warrior" but better than "The Warriors." Even if Patty Smyth didn't slink through in a cameo ...