Straight Outta Jersey...
If you were thinking Milk or the Dark Knight were your favorite movies of the year, you may want to check out The Wrestler. Mickey Rourke stars as well...a Wrestler who was once a big name about 20 years ago, but now has fallen on hard times. Rourke plays Randy "The Ram" Robinson who has had substance abuse problems from recreational drugs to performance enhancing since, from what I can assume, his glory days. Randy has an estranged daughter; whom of which may or may not be a lesbian. He's in love with a stripper who is also coming to terms with her age in a business that thrives off of youth. You must know that The Wrestler is one of the most straight forward movies I have seen in quite some time. Seeing as I 'use to be' a big fan of 'Wrasslin' as a child and somewhat in my teens, it is great to see a work by Aronofsky no less, that is comparable to Beyond The Mat.
Seeing as it is Oscar season and you found your way to this site [some how] I'm assuming you know what the Wrestler is or have at least heard of its lore. Assuming you know that the movie is in the running for several awards and is being critically acclaimed, explaining the bitter before the sweet will be a better change of pace [judging by the overly gushy reviews I've been reading]. Evan Rachel Wood plays Randy's daughter Stephanie in the movie. This is the most interesting relationship within the movie, the relationship that [arguable] matters most and I assume is the most relatible is beautiful and very realistic at one point, but horribly wedged-in or overlooked at another. By the end of the feature [without giving anything away] you the viewer are kind of stuck wondering if the daughter 'truly' did not care about her father. Depending on how you look at this construct, this may not be a bad thing. Most foreign and independent movies thrive off of you the viewer making your on decisions and drawing a personal conclusion as to 'what could have happened' to the main and supporting characters.
This movie is almost daring you to look away. There are scenes where I want to 'hope' it is cgi, but I know it is very much the real thing. This is refreshing, seeing as the content of The Wrestler is covering the very real reality of what the media has dawned 'a fake sport'. Typically, I despise a movie shot in 'documentary style', because there is usually an overage of shaky-cam 'actiony' sequences that make my stomach churn. The most surprising thing about The Wrestler is how much you do not see the main character's face. Aronofsky does a brilliant job of almost attaching a camera to the right shoulder of Rourke. Everything in this movie seemed so real that you as the viewer can not help but feel like you are 'right there'. There are moments where Randy 'The Ram' is driving his van [slash part-time home] and blasting the cheesiest of 80's hair-band rock...and you can't help but pump your fist along with. There is something to be said about a movie that can lay a character's flaws one after another after another in front of you, then within the same breath have you rooting for this person as a meat-slicer at a deli.
How amazing is Maris Tomei? Next question, how amazing is Marisa Tomei with her clothes on? Truthfully speaking, this is the second movie of very high quality I've seen with Tomei where she is showing more than her fair share of skin. Now as a heterosexual male who realizes that Mrs. Tomei is a year older than my mom...work it girl! However, seeing her great performance in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, a role which she wears...well next to nothing for a good majority of her 'powerful scenes'; it leaves something to be desired. Again this is really splitting hairs on a movie where she plays a character who is supposed to be old and burned out, yet I couldn't imagine a Jolie or a Blanchet being able to pull this off. The relationship between Pam [Tomei] and Randy are a focus of the movie, but not what would be called the 'central focus'. This is why steering clear of too much depth between Pam and Randy's daughter [Stephanie] pushes the focus more so on Randy "The Ram". We [the viewer] need to see how his life comes together, before we see his effect on the supporting cast.
It is rare that you get a movie as straight up and honest as the Wrestler. All of these conveyed and assumed feelings comes from the pen of Robert D. Siegel, the screenwriter who's only other recognizable work was The Onion Movie [yech!]. This could be a fluke, much like seeing "The Ram" jump off the top rope, this may never 'happen again' for Rourke. You really see him dig down deep to play this role. It may not be a big stretch for Rourke, or Tomei, but I would assume this was tough for everyone behind the scenes. How do you shop a movie around about a Wrestler past his prime who's in love with a stripper and to get 'back on top' uses drugs and high school gymnasiums as a means to reclaim the glory he once possessed? I think the fact that I was able to view this on a screen in a theater, in Columbus and not a DVD was really something...something kind of special.
Without Further Ado I Give The Wrestler...
The Barb Bat of Justice & Critical Review From Mr. Foley [click the photo]