Monday, August 30, 2010

The Wrestler: Comeback Film For Mickey Rourke

By Mark Nixon

If you haven't seen The Wrestler yet, you really need to. It's certainly one of the top must see movie downloads of the last ten years, and everything you've heard about the movie is one hundred percent true. Rourke really knocks it out of the park and gives the performance of a lifetime, while Darren Aronofsky tops everything he's done before to come out with a movie that is well beyond anything you might have thought him capable of.

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's lifestyle has alienated everyone he's ever loved and seriously done a number on his body. He has to see if he can make a comeback, both in the ring, where he's washed up, and in his personal life, where he doesn't even have a loyal fanbase to keep him going.

The movie will rip at your heart strings at the same time as it makes you feel a little more positive about life. The movie looks at Randy in a sincere light, portraying him as a real human being who's made a lot of big mistakes, but a real human being nonetheless. The movie is brutally honest without ever succumbing to the cruel pessimism you usually see in films that are "brutally honest".

Again, Rourke really knocks it out of the park. The movie is just as much Rourke's story as it is Randy's. It's interesting to note, Nicholas Cage almost had this role, but actually passed on it so that his friend Rourke could have the opportunity.

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.

Once the movie's over and the acoustic song from Bruce Springsteen kicks in, take a moment to reflect on the story and what the ending really means. Rarely can a movie delve so deeply into issues of self destruction and loss and come out with a more positive and upbeat ending... Without really being tidy or saccharine sweet. The ending really drives home the whole point of the story, which is that you have to do what you want to do in life, no matter the price. - 40732

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