Monday, August 30, 2010

See The Hit Film The Wrestler

By Mark Nixon

If you haven't seen the Wrestler yet, what are you waiting for? Don't you think it's at the top of everyone's movie downloads queue for a reason? Actually, you're probably sick of hearing about the movie at this point, so why not just watch the darn thing and get it over with?

Rourke really does provide the heart and soul of this movie, and even the body, taking some real bumps in the name of giving a great show. He plays Randy The Ram Robinson, a wrestler who was huge in the eighties, during the hair metal days, and has since faded into obscurity. He still wrestles, but it doesn't pay the bills alone, as he wrestles for small crowds, and he has to supplement his income with hours at the grocery store.

Randy has lived a self destructive lifestyle, and he's paying the price for it. He's lost touch with his family, and while there's a real bond between him and the boys in the locker room, he doesn't really have anyone that's truly close to him. So the movie follows him as he attempts to make a comeback and reunite with his daughter.

The movie is heart wrenching, incredibly emotional, and while it shows Randy as he is, as a man who has hurt himself and others with his lifestyle, it never judges him or looks down on him. Randy the Ram is a lovable guy, and it becomes tragic that all cannot be forgiven so easily.

Again, it's all about Mickey Rourke here. The story of the Wrestler is as much his as it is Randy's. Rourke himself has made a few mistakes, and just like Randy, was on the comeback trail. So the result is that he doesn't just play this role, he lived it. Interestingly, the role was going to go to Nicholas Cage, but Cage dropped out so that Rourke could take it.

They might have been able to secure a bigger budget had Cage stayed on, but the end result is a smaller, more intimate, personal movie, and it's all that much better for it. Rourke wrestles for small crowds, and it really drives home the fact that Randy gives his all to every show, whether he's wrestling for a few thousand fans or a few dozen. He really bleeds it out.

The story is an old one, the characters are stock, but it never feels cliche or predictable. The movie is invested with such real humanity that it really feels like a unique, one of a kind tale of loss and redemption. Even if you weren't so big on Pi and Requiem for a Dream, this may be Darren Aronofsky's masterpiece, and it certainly shows a deeper level of humanity than his previous efforts.

When you hear the acoustic song by Springsteen at the end, take a moment to reflect on what the ending really means. This movie has a lot of depth, and sits somewhere between Rocky and Raging Bull in the pantheon of sports movies. It is, at once, heart breaking and heart warming, both upbeat and tragic, and the ending really drives that home. At the very least, it's a story you'll never forget. - 40728

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