The Wrestler
Washed up fighters make great movie characters. Think of Robert De Niro as Jake La Motta in Raging Bull.
Think Marlon Brando’s “I coulda been a contender” speech in On The Waterfront, Clint Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby and Stacy Keach, pissing blood in John Huston’s underrated Fat City.
Add to their ranks Randy “The Ram” Robinson. The Ram isn’t a boxer, but he’s played by one: Mickey Rourke boxed before he became an actor, and went back to the ring in the early 90s, when he went undefeated in seven professional bouts before retiring to lick his wounds.
Cast details
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Mickey Rourke
Born: 16 Sep 1952
Schenectady, New YorkTop rated films View all Man On Fire - BLU-RAY Version (2004) 
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Director Darren Aronofsky makes us wait before we can see his face. First of all we get glimpses of The Ram’s glory days, press clippings from the late 80s when he was in his prime. Then we see him from the back, sitting on a stool in the corner of a nursery class – like a dunce. He’s reduced to fighting in school gyms now. His hair is long and rinsed blonde, reaching down below his shoulders; his arms and chest are bodybuilder pumped… But the face, when we do see it, is bloated and battle-scarred, his skin waxy, his eyes in retreat. Rourke’s once beautifully chiseled features seem to have lost all their definition.
It’s enough to make you cry – or it would be, if Rourke didn’t imbue this guy with so much of the old charm and charisma. Randy is still fighting the good fight, still dreaming the dream despite everything that happens in a movie that’s structured as a long-delayed wake up call.
The Wrestler: Evan Rachel Wood, Mickey Rourke
Aronofsky has been through the wars himelf, of course. Since the acclaim that came his way with Requiem for a Dream he’s suffered numerous setbacks on The Fountain, losing Brad Pitt late in day and most of his budget, then suffering calamitous reviews and lukewarm business.
Maybe it was good for him. There is something humble and back-to-basics about this film – he covers it in long, unbroken shots, documentary style. It is a very clean, simple, approach, but it packs a real emotional wallop.
Aronofsky is mostly sympathetic to the sham wrestling racket, which he presents as an extremely punishing branch of show business. The results may be pre-arranged, but the bouts themselves involve self-laceration and blood-letting. The Ram learns the hard way that he can’t keep fighting forever, but his options remain severely circumscribed in a country still hooked on its own fixation with youth and glory. (Not for nothing is Randy’s climactic bout a rematch with his old 80s adversary, The Ayatollah.)
The same could be said of Cassidy, the aging stripper played by Marisa Tomei who doesn’t quite know what to make of her most loyal customer. She’s a single mom who still looks the part but knows her days are numbered. Randy is obviously a sweet guy, but he’s not exactly the knight on a white charger who is going to solve her problems and whisk her to the sweet life.
A subplot about Randy trying to reconnect with his angry daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) is fairly hackneyed – except that we probably all know feckless, well-meaning fathers who would like their kids’ forgiveness, but louse it up anyway.
The Wrestler is a poignant slice of bar room blues transported to a whole other level by Mickey Rourke, the right actor in the right place at the right time. Talk of an Oscar nomination is absolutely justified. This could prove to be his indelible performance, the role of a lifetime you might say.
Reviews
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Critics' reviews
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After The Fountain, Darren Aronofsky has something to prove. Its a question of reliability: can Aronofsky... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful members' reviews (3)
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96 out of 97 people found this review helpful
Micky Rourke is just mesmerizing.
A really immersive film, that manages to live the washed out wrestlers life day by agonizing day. I have only felt this level of emotional gutting once before and that was with my first view of 'Requiem for a Dream'. The world feels authentic and sometimes sexy, honoring its source material, in all it's bloody glory.
Mickey Rourke's performance is absolutely incredible and it hurts so much to stare at such a demolished incarnation of him. Marisa Tomei is beautiful and again like with the every other aspect of the film you find yourself just staring in amazement.
The film has a dark sense of humor which surprises you during the lows. You can see the turns ahead but ride is too immersive to let yourself second guess the plot, and your first time will be heart throbbing and unnerving. -
28 out of 33 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
Wrestle My Bordom Away, Please !!!!
The only thing that really caught my attention during this 'film' was the 90 or so minutes that I was wasting viewing it. That time can never be replaced.
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16 out of 16 people found this review helpful
you will feel every min of this flim
You don't have to be a wrestling fan to enjoy this movie
everything in the movie is amazing from the real life view of wrestling and just what go's on in that dark world away from the W.W.E. spot light
Right down to the sound track done by springsteen as the main song
It also took two golden globe (should have had 3)
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- sheep1882 from Todmorden
- Posted 12 Jan 2009 20:44
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Most recent members' reviews (2)
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
The wrestler
The wrestler is a Thoroughly enjoyable film throughout.
Very easy to feel for the characters.
Asks questions about the real world behind the glamour of proffesional wrestling. -
9 out of 10 people found this review helpful
Just go and see it
What an amazing film, it's the best thing I have seen in ages,it's sad and funny and real. Mickey Rourke is stunning, understated, natural and perfect as the eponymous ageing wrestler. Marisa Tomei too is great as the ageing stripper.
Just go and see it......
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96 out of 97 people found this review helpful
Micky Rourke is just mesmerizing.
A really immersive film, that manages to live the washed out wrestlers life day by agonizing day. I have only felt this level of emotional gutting once before and that was with my first view of 'Requiem for a Dream'. The world feels authentic and sometimes sexy, honoring its source material, in all it's bloody glory.
Mickey Rourke's performance is absolutely incredible and it hurts so much to stare at such a demolished incarnation of him. Marisa Tomei is beautiful and again like with the every other aspect of the film you find yourself just staring in amazement.
The film has a dark sense of humor which surprises you during the lows. You can see the turns ahead but ride is too immersive to let yourself second guess the plot, and your first time will be heart throbbing and unnerving. -
28 out of 33 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
Wrestle My Bordom Away, Please !!!!
The only thing that really caught my attention during this 'film' was the 90 or so minutes that I was wasting viewing it. That time can never be replaced.
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16 out of 16 people found this review helpful
you will feel every min of this flim
You don't have to be a wrestling fan to enjoy this movie
everything in the movie is amazing from the real life view of wrestling and just what go's on in that dark world away from the W.W.E. spot light
Right down to the sound track done by springsteen as the main song
It also took two golden globe (should have had 3)-
- sheep1882 from Todmorden
- Posted 12 Jan 2009 20:44
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15 out of 16 people found this review helpful
Gory
We only made it about 19 minutes into this movie.. before we turned it off. It is bloody and disturbing and would not be advisable for children to watch.
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13 out of 15 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
What were you watching
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10 out of 13 people found this review helpful
Don't Believe The Hype
Can't understand why this film is getting such good reviews. Three of us were dumbfounded when the titles started to roll .Expectations are really high and you just sit waiting for the film to get better but it never does. Rourke's performance is excellent , but it isn't enough to save the day. Rocky Balboa tells the same story in a much more entertaining fashion.
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9 out of 10 people found this review helpful
Just go and see it
What an amazing film, it's the best thing I have seen in ages,it's sad and funny and real. Mickey Rourke is stunning, understated, natural and perfect as the eponymous ageing wrestler. Marisa Tomei too is great as the ageing stripper.
Just go and see it...... -
9 out of 10 people found this review helpful
A day in the life
Not a very interesting film. I expected more from this swan song attempt. Very slow paced and while I appreciate it was meant to be full of woe and misery it made me want the end to arrive quickly. Character development was not up to scratch so for me it didn't work as a docu-drama or any other genre. Very disappointed.
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7 out of 7 people found this review helpful
The Wrestler
A fantastic film for the wrestling fans out there.
Brilliant from start to finish.
A real eye opener in the real dark side of the wrestling business.
This will (hopefully) win an oscar for Mickey Rourke.
This is one film that i will watch again. -
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
Amazing
Critics' reviews
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After The Fountain, Darren Aronofsky has something to prove. Its a question of reliability: can Aronofsky... read more on Time Out