With films such as “Requiem for a Dream” and “The Wrestler,” director Darren Aronofsky has proven that behind the camera he is anything but boring.

Now comes his latest project, “Black Swan,” which has quickly become one of the critical darlings of the holiday season. And while I can appreciate the effort and the film certainly held my attention, ultimately I just can’t bring myself to recommend this wildly uneven picture.

Natalie Portman stars as Nina, a determined ballerina in a New York City company consumed with her profession. Nina’s hard work appears to be on the verge of paying off when she is given the lead role in the company’s latest production – a re-imagining of “Swan Lake.”

But the pressures begin to mount from all directions – her controlling mother (Barbara Hershey), a demanding director (Vincent Cassel) and a rival dancer (Mila Kunis) – and Nina soon finds herself in a struggle to maintain her lofty position and perhaps her own sanity.

The cast is excellent, starting with Portman. I’ve been a fan of her since “Beautiful Girls,” so it is refreshing to see her take a role that is easily her most challenging to date. Kunis is impressive as the rival, while Hershey and Cassel both shine in their respective roles.

There are even some nice moments from Winona Ryder as the aging ballerina Nina replaces.

The cast is so good, in fact, that if the movie had stayed grounded more in reality, such as Aronofsky’s “The Wrester,” I think it could have been a solid piece of work.

Unfortunately, “Black Swan” is anything but routine – evolving into a rather strange psycho-sexual thriller. And while some of the cringe-inducing moments do work, the film eventually veers way out of control with a final act that sends the film sailing off the tracks into another atmosphere.

There are some obvious symbols and metaphors Aronofsky has in play here, but I just didn’t buy it. Instead I saw “Black Swan” as nothing more than a strange, strange experience where the final result is actually both impressive and disappointing at the same time.

Also in theaters

While “Black Swan” is perhaps not quite worthy of its accolades, another critical darling, “The Fighter” (A-), proves to be a film that lives up to prerelease expectations. This is a solid piece of work from director David O. Russell – a gripping family drama with a strong cast.

Based on the true story of boxer “Irish” Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg), “The Fighter” follows Ward’s rise from fringe fighter to world champion and his troubled path to glory that included a domineering mother/manager (Melissa Leo) and his half brother/trainer Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale), a former boxer himself who is battling a crack addiction.

Marketing for “The Fighter” has centered on the boxing element of the film, but what really makes this work are the strong family dynamics and two Oscar-worthy performances that overshadow solid work from Wahlberg and Amy Adams.

Leo is certainly an Oscar contender as the controlling mother. It’s a character that is a far cry from her tender and quiet work in “Frozen River,” but Leo strikes all the right notes – even getting a little sympathy out of a character that is hard to like.

But Bale is the real star of “The Fighter” – giving a career performance as a man still living off past glory (his claim to fame is a disputed knockdown in a fight against Sugar Ray Leonard in the 1970s). At first, Bale’s performance feels a little cartoonish, but as the film progresses it evolves into a mesmerizing performance that captivates.

Bale’s performance alone makes “The Fighter” worth the price of admission, although there is so much more at work here in one of the best films of 2010.

“The Fighter” is rated R for language throughout, drug content, some violence and sexuality, and is now playing at the Great Escape 12 and Highland Cinemas in Glasgow.

— To get sportswriter/movie reviewer Micheal Compton’s up-to-the-minute thoughts on all things movies, visit his blog at mcompton.wordpress.com or his Twitter page at twitter.com/mcompton428. You can also e-mail him at mcompton@bgdailynews.com.