'The Wrestler' Review and Quote

The Wrestler/2008

Directed by: Darren Aronofsky

Starring: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, and Even Rachel Wood

The Plot: Time catches up to a former 80's smash wrestling icon. Randy "The Ram" Robinson, ( Mickey Rourke) is left with very little but deteriorating bone and muscle joints, a bad heart, an estranged kid, a massive catalog of butt-rock records, and a waning, but still fervent fan base. His only real friend, (Marisa Tomei) charges 60$ a hit for nude lap dances. These aren't the salad years...

The Good: The good is that I know it when I see it. When a talented filmmaker, makes that perfect niche film, and casts the exact, perfect actor for the role - the Oscar is pretty much part of the equation. There is little doubt in my mind that Rourke has this year's award locked up. I'd bet my dog's eyes on it. I'd bet my own eyes on it, but they're getting worse every day, and I'm seriously doubting their value in today's eye-betting market.

The strange thing about The Wrestler is that it's an Aronofsky flick in name only. Gone are the camera tricks, the insane art design, the visual prowess of movies like Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain - The Wrestler feels much more like a documentary then a fictional account. Darren Aronofsky spends much of his lens time following The Ram as he plods through his life twenty years after it crested. We spend alot of time walking behind Rourke, and in a really odd way we end up walking in this guy's shoes - or in this case, his patent leather wrestling boots.

Randy the Ram is that role that's been seemingly waiting for a guy with Rourke's mixed history to show up and finally take it. You really can't separate the character from the man playing him. The reason he's so terrific in this performance is because I'm doubting he had to perform most of the feelings and emotions of this tragic figure at all.

Recently critics are calling this film, and in turn, this year as the year Mickey Rourke is making his comeback. I couldn't be happier that he's going to be in many more films from now on, the guy deserves it. But his fans know, (and I'm talking about the chicks and hicks that have seen the movie Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man about 30 straight times - another, honest to god, ass-rock classic) that Mickey's been climbing the C-List for a few years now. Taking heavy roles and somehow managing to make them three tons heavier.

The Wrestler really wouldn't have worked as well if we didn't have the white-trash fairy tale of The Wrestler and The Stripper. What should have been a class in Hollywood Film Cliche' 101, actually works much better than it has any reason to. Both Rourke and Tomei's character's are aging performers. Things don't shine as brightly as they used to. It's much harder to get out of bed and shave your armpits for the paying customers then it once was. And they sort of find a partner in antiquity within each other.

Tomei's one of the few aging actress's left in SAG, (probably shouldn't use that acronym with this statement) completely unafraid to take her clothes off and act past her t*ts. She's got that rare gift in a Hollywood starlet - nudity and aptitude are strange bedfellows in Tinseltown. Tomei wields both deftly.

There are scenes in The Wrestler that will grab almost anyone privy enough to see it. My favorite involved an 8-Bit Nintendo Entertainment System, and Randy playing an old NES wrestling cartridge with a neighborhood kid.

This is a film with more heart and soul then the souless recesses of the multiplex can usually dole out this time of year . It's easy to see why a guy like Bruce Springsteen would lend his voice to the closing credits of the film. When The Wrestler finally does conclude it will hit you, whether that's with a signature Ram elbow drop, or an open handed slap to the mug, The Wrestler will hit you. I promise.

The Bad- The bad is that I've always tried to maintain a comfortable truce with my personal history. Live in the now - not so much in the past. But I was amazed at how much my current personal car Ipod soundtrack is exactly the same as Randy The Ram Robinson's. Quiet Riot. Ratt. Cinderella. Guns N' Roses. (best use of the song Sweet Child O' Mine ever) I need to move on dude...

The Ugly- Nada. Doesn't exist in this feature.

The Verdict- This film and this actor will move you. I have no doubt in my mind that I saw the 81st Academy Awards Best Actor recipient on the big-screen last night. This movie kicks ass.