The Wrestler
The opening montage of wrestling news articles certainly took me back to the days of the 80s when “mark” magazines like PWI ruled the day in coverage, as Aronofsky tells this story of a guy who could have been any number of different stars of the era, now fallen from grace. There is no doubt watching this that Mickey Rourke from frame one put everything he had and then some into the role of Randy The Ram, now reduced to fighting at relatively tiny venues for a bit of money and more importantly, a recreation of the spotlight and crowd adulation he enjoyed in his prime. The grainy, handheld style here harkens back to the earlier (legit) wrestling documentary Beyond The Mat, as we feel we are really watching this guy go thru his daily (or weekly) routine. However, the second half is certainly better than the first half, as the urgency of the story picks up, plus all the shots of following Rourke from behind get to be a bit much, though thankfully Aronofsky knocks that off as the story goes on. For me, the best scenes are not exactly the recreations of independent wrestling leagues but rather when The Ram is trying to connect with those he cares about, such as Tomei’s still-beautiful but aging stripper and his daughter played by Evan Rachel Wood: Seemingly ashamed to be a lesbian and embittered by the fact that her father’s absence during her childhood gave her a life-long hatred of men, Wood is beautiful and angry to be sure, but as her father tries to reconnect with her, it’s amazing how the actors can make a simple moment like Stephanie clinging to her father’s arm so emotional. As for Tomei, she certainly shows she’s not afraid to show off her amazing nude body while letting us know her Cassidy / Pam has serious problems of her own when faced with a man who cares for her no matter what (“No contact with the customers”). I also enjoyed Todd Barry who gets some good moments in there as Randy’s terminally asshole boss at the supermarket he works in part-time, and former WCW star Ernest Miller makes the most of his screentime as the Ram’s old rival, The Ayatollah. As for the wrestling itself, there is something thrilling yet sad about watching these has-beens and never-will-bes practically kill themselves for the enjoyment of a relative handful of people, and the hardcore match featuring the Ram taking on The Necro Butcher is a stark depiction of what so-called garbage wrestling is all about. In the end, despite his heart condition, The Ram realizes that all he has in this world is those cheers from the crowd, and the biggest emotional moment for this viewer is not necessarily the much-talked final shots, but a couple of minutes earlier when he turns his back at what may be his last shot at not being alone anymore in his personal life to step thru those curtains and “walk that aisle”, with GNR playing as his theme music, bigger than life in the eyes of those in attendance. As a final thought, all I’ve got to say is, when Penn walked out with the Oscar on the 22nd, it was probably because those who voted for him didn’t even bother to check out this gem of a film and brilliantly crafted genius of a lead performance…
9/10