The Wrestler (2008)

Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
Written by: Robert D Siegel

I have never been a wrestling fan. Never. Even when I was the age when all boys love wrestling, I couldn’t handle it. Hell, I know a guy in the WWE and I still don’t watch it! Big dudes in tighty whiteys rolling all over each other? And doing it so fakely? Isn’t it all a little homo-erotic? And…well…FAKE?! (Before the movie the Alamo showed clips from old Hulk Hogan “fights.” How did anyone think this was real?!)

So when I heard that Darren Aronofsky was going to make a movie about a wrestler, I groaned a little bit. Seriously? Do we need this? But it’s Aronofsky, so I had to give it a chance. Then it got great reviews, so I KNEW that I had to give it a chance.

How did I like it? I’ll let you know after some previews.

ADVENTURELAND–This one wasn’t interesting until it said, “From the director of Superbad.” Then, suddenly, I perked up. It’s about a spoiled kid who is forced to get a job at a carnival. There he meets a weird crew of folks who (it appears) end up being like his family. But with Ryan Reynolds, Kristen Stewart and Bill Hader involved, it looks like so much more. I’m there.

CHOCOLATE–Yes, I’ve already reviewed this one. Go see it, post haste.

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE–Are we going to see X-Men Origins: Storm? Or, even worse, X-Men Origins: Cyclops? Well, I guess Wolverine has his cult, so he definitely gets one…also co-starring Ryan Reynolds. Apparently, this movie explains why he hates Sabretooth so much. Funny, I don’t seem to remember him even knowing who the hell Sabretooth was in the first movie. In fact, he had no clue. He made a comment about his name.

Whatever. I’ll see it. Although, I’m not so sure that the director of Tsotsi is all up for a bit action movie like this. We’ll see.

And I guess that’s it. So let’s get ready to…um…nevermind.

Randy “Ram” Robinson (Mickey Roarke looking rougher than ever…and he’s looked ROUGH for a while) is over the hill. But he hasn’t let that stop him from keeping the dream alive. He’s been wrestling since the 80s and nothing’s gonna stop him now. Not age. Not a waning fan base. Not…um…a heart attack?

Well, that might derail him a bit.

He has a life outside of the ring, but not much of one. He has a woman he’s in love with named Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), but she’s a stripper. She’s friendly to Randy, but does she love him? Or is it just an act just like his wrestling is an act? Or is she using her job as armor to keep people at a distance…just like he uses his…you get the picture.

He also has a daughter (Evan Rachel Wood), but she hates him because he left her behind all those years ago.

So much of this movie is familiar ground, but because it’s Aronofsky and an amazing cast (they are all Roarke’s equals), it rises above any similarities it may have with other films like it. It’s heartbreaking and, as many other reviewers have been saying, “deeply affecting.” I was pretty drained by the end of it.

And, of course, there’s Mickey. Like he was in his 80s heyday, he is a force of nature. Even more so than his first bid for a comeback in Sin City, he nails it here. Of course, The Ram is much closer to home for him than Marv ever could be. This is about a broken man who ruined any chance he had of having a real life by paying too much attention to his rather false career. Now it’s all he has. And when he loses that, what’s he going to do? Be a guy behind the meat counter? I doubt it.

No, he’s going to come back fighting. And Mickey does that here. His Oscar nomination is very well-deserved and I kind of can’t wait to see what he has up his sleeve for his next film.

Aronofsky keeps the editing to a minimum here letting his actors do their jobs without cutting back and forth between shots of them and shots of needles or fists or tights or Roarke’s left ear. There are some fight scenes, but they’re shown for what they are: acting. We’re never asked to believe that any of it is real. (Although, that final fight before the heart attack is pretty fucking brutal. It’s hard to believe that this is what wrestling has turned into. GG Allin would be proud…I guess.)

This is a great film. Go see it now and witness the majesty that is Mickey Roarke’s brutal and honest performance. Marisa also puts in a very good performance. She just keeps getting better with age. (And more naked. She’s been naked more in the last two years than she has been in her entire career. Weird. She looks pretty amazing, though.)