Laura's screening with Laura Weaser

Warrior. Directed By Gavin O'Connor. Out on DVD March 7.

Every man is a warrior, driven to fight not only physically against others, but emotionally against society, economy and even family. Visually played out in the caged arena of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Warrior is the story of everyday battles and the strength they take.

Brother to brother: the battle ends inside the cage.

Former fighters in their youths, brothers Brendan (Joel Edgerton) and Tommy (Tom Hardy) Conlon now face tough struggles through their adult lives.

As an ex-marine, Tommy is haunted by a tragic past, and returns home to live with their alcoholic father Paddy (Nick Nolte).

As a public school teacher, unable to keep is family from sliding into debt, Brendan is stressed that they may lose their home.

A new Mixed Martial Arts competition, Sparta, offers high-stakes prize money that could save both their lives.

As they work through the ranks, family dramas come back to haunt them both and they are forced to face each other – and not just in the cage.

Warrior is a mixed bag. It simultaneously portrays stylised, kick-arse glamourised world of MMA fighting whilst showing the lengths these men have had to go to to make ends meet in a tough economic climate.

But for me, there were too many distractions thrown in that detract from the main battle – that of Brendan and Tommy's individual struggles.

Tommy's stint in the USA Army is a demon that haunts him, but isn't revealed until the end, but it did nothing to really add to the sense of Tommy's emotional distress.

It seemed Tommy's real emotional distress came from his relationship with both Paddy – an alcoholic father who it is eluded beat his mother mercilessly – and Brendan who he had cut all ties with after he chose to stay with Paddy when their parents' separation came about.

This was downplayed a lot more than it should have, and instead fell by the way side, so when it came to squaring off in the cage, it felt like there was no real emotional weight behind it as the film had obviously intended there be.

The central relationship between the brothers is tracked, but the additional side-line stories make the brother's plight difficult to follow or even relate to at length.

Particularly with Tommy, I felt his side of the story was getting too complex, while Brendan's struggle was relatively easy to follow and therefore made me feel for him far more than I did for Tommy.

That said, Joel Edgerton gives a stunning portrayal as Brendan.

In an ‘everyman' role as a school science teacher, he is forced back into the world he knew, forced to face his fighting past to shape up and save his family's home.

It hits home when Brendan not only has to fight as a second job to make ends meet, but is cast from his teaching job because he sets the wrong example to his students.

Brendan is relatable and to me truly represents the struggle many of us face on a constant basis, trying to make enough to simply survive.

The fight sequences were stunning as our lead actors shaped up to take on real MMA stars.

However, the emotional weight the film was gunning for became too convoluted by too many elements that were inadequately explained.