The Wrestler

Director: Darren Aronofsky
Year: 2008
Rating: ***

The gem of this movie is Mickey Rourke, as I'm sure you've heard if you pay any attention to movie buzz. For a while, apparently, Nicholas Cage was set to star as Randy "The Ram" Robinson, and good lord if that had happened, I can assure you this movie would not be receiving the acclaim it has been enjoying this awards season. Mickey Rourke himself is the perfect combination of vulnerable, charismatic, bumbling, well-intentioned, tender, and broken-down, and it translates perfectly to this role. Were anyone else in this leading part it would lose its authenticity and relatability; so, well done, Darren, for fighting for Mickey!

The film opens over a montage of posters and promotions for Randy "The Ram" as he wrestles various other ridiculously-named foes; he's clearly been a success in his field, and the air of nostalgia is thick right from the start. We cut to him in a dressing room 20 years later, looking pretty awful in his neon green spandex with stringy bleached blond hair cascading over his 'roidtastic shoulders. The camera literally follows him through a match, slinging his overly-muscular body through elaborate stage-fighting moves before emerging victorious to the cheers of an enthralled crowd of mullet-men. Randy heads home to his trailer, and we see the weekdays of his life; slinging boxes at a generic mega store, living alone out of his van when he gets locked out for not making rent, entertaining the kids of the neighborhood with his friendly bear demeanor, and dropping in to visit a favorite stripper (Marisa Tomei, acting the same as in every other role she's ever taken) at the local "Cheeks."

The story isn't even remotely original: washed up has-been struggles to remain relevant while seeking to maintain and rebuild relationships that have fallen by the wayside. There is something refreshing, however, about Rourke's portrayal, making it poignant and avoiding a sense of staleness. Evan Rachel Wood is unremarkable as his estranged daughter, but in his scenes with her, Mickey brought me to tears. Despite all the reconstructive facial surgeries brought about by his own foray into professional wrestling, he still conveys true emotion with an openness and vulnerability that showed me immediately why the Academy is jonesing to award him this year.

The film looks honestly at the ultimate fate of a person who has capitalized purely on the physical and what happens when things start to break down. While it definitely follows a well-trodden path, it does so in an unassuming way that manages to avoid the typical clichés. I liked the end for its ability to leave things (literally) up in the air, as it were.