The Wrestler

The Wrestler
2008 - Fox Searchlight
Directed by Darren Aronofsky



SYNOPSIS
Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Mickey Rourke) was the king of wrestling in the mid to late 1980's, best known for his legendary match against The Ayatollah. 20 years on, Randy is all washed up. Living in a trailer park and working during the week doing manual labor at a grocery store, he wrestles on the weekends, keeping his dreams of a comeback alive. When he's not in the ring, he eying a middle aged stripper Cassidy (Marisa Tomei) at the local strip club.
After a brutal match, The Ram suffers a heart attack, and bypass surgery. Doctors say he can never wrestle again. So he tries to start a new life. He tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) and fails. His budding relationship with Cassidy doesn't blossom as well. His steady job goes down the tubes. But there is one thing to keep him going... a 20th anniversary rematch with the Ayatollah.

MY THOUGHTS

There are a few acting performances where you can absolutely positively imagine no other actor in the role. Brando in 'A Streetcar Named Desire.' Jack Nicholson in 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.' Daniel Day Lewis in 'There Will Be Blood.' This is one of THOSE performances. Mickey Rourke simply is The Ram. His performance is that realistic.
You feel his every emotion, whether it be pain from pulling barb wire out of his skin, or pain from his failed relationship with his daughter, or loneliness and desperation.
In his battered face you see every single day in those 20 years. No other known actor could have played that aspect of the part, they would have been too pretty.

You can also draw many parallels with the fictional Ram and real-life Rourke. Both were phenoms of the 80's. They suffered diminishing returns in the 90's, and fought to reclaim their lofty heights in the 00's. Rourke reclaimed that and even took it to new heights.

Marisa Tomei was also excellent. I loved the way the story compared and contrasted her character with The Ram. Both character's professions are frowned upon by most people. Strip club patrons made fun of her because of her age, yet The Ram never faced those criticisms in the ring.
Cassidy was a responsible both as a parent and with her finances, while Randy was the complete opposite.
He was lonely and needing companionship and she was quick to brush him off and keep her distance.

The cold, bleak weather and gray, gritty color palette added a real dimension to the story and showed Randy's depression after missing wrestling, without the need for words. This was a subtle mark of a great director at work. The film is very different from Aronofsky's other works like 'Pi' and 'Requiem For a Dream,' and shows this young director has great range.

It's a shame Rourke did not win the Academy Award... but Sean Penn's performance in 'Milk' was also one of THOSE performances.