The Wrestler

Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler is a movie of enormous quiet power. It's about a man who has fallen from grace, but is still respected amongst his professional peers. He's lucky he has those peers, because he's burned a lot of bridges in his personal life. The man in question is Randy "The Ram" Robinson. Back in the 80s, he was a star in the professional wrestling world. He still wrestles, but the venues are smaller now. His body is covered with scars, and he probably knows it won't be long until he won't be able to do what he loves anymore. Randy is a man who lives for what he loves, and the movie shows us what happens when that one thing holding his life together is taken away.

Mickey Rourke plays Randy, and it's been stated that he almost passed up the role, as he initially felt it hit a little too close to home. We should be thankful he overcame whatever personal demons initially caused him to draw back, because he gives not only the best male performance of the year, but also the best of his entire career. Many have hailed it a comeback, and while it remains to be seen how long Hollywood's renewed love affair with Rourke as an actor will last, this will always be seen as one of the highlights of his career. It is both a wonderful emotional and physical performance. He makes us believe the pain he feels in the ring, and also in his private life. One of the joys of The Wrestler is how honest it is about the business. Yes, professional wrestling is scripted, but the pain is very real, and it can have a lasting effect. There's a scene where Randy is signing autographs at a table, and when there's a short lull, he looks at some of his fellow wrestlers, who are in wheelchairs or have permanent physical damage from their years in the ring. Randy fears the future, choosing instead to wax nostalgic about his glory days any way he can.

The first half hour or so of the film acts almost like a behind the scenes documentary of the world of wrestling. We see them planning out the fight to come, what moves they will do to each other, and the close camaraderie the performers share backstage. We also get to see such things as one of the wrestlers acting as a personal pharmacy with a full supply of pain medications and other drugs for sale, and how having someone removing nails from your skin (a nail gun was used in a fight) may not be out of the question. Backstage is where Randy is most comfortable. He's surrounded by people who understand him, knows what he goes through, and respect him. After a particularly grueling fight, Randy suddenly finds it difficult to breathe and collapses. He's had a heart attack, and when he comes to, the doctor tells him he can no longer perform, as his body just can't take it anymore. This is a crushing defeat for him, more than anything he's ever faced on his job. For the first time, Randy has to find something to fill the void in his life.

There's a stripper at a local club that Randy visits named Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), who is the closest thing Randy has to a confidant in his life. She sympathizes with him, listens to him, and even meets him sometimes outside of work. More than anything, Randy would like to build the rest of his life with her. But, despite their obvious connection, she views him as a "customer". Outside of the club, she's a single mother who doesn't seem to know how to trust anyone. Maybe she sees too much of herself in Randy. They are both performers, acting for the crowd and giving them what they want. When she leaves the club, she's no longer Cassidy, she's Pam (her real name). She leads a double life, and in a way, so does Randy. When the lights go down and the audiences leave, Cassidy/Pam is able to slip silently back into reality. Randy, on the other hand, needs someone in his life. He realizes this when he can no longer do his job. This is why he tries to reconcile with his adult daughter.

His daughter is Stephanie (Rachel Evan Wood). She doesn't much care for him, and he knows it. He was never there for her, but now that he's alone, he wants her in his life. His attempts to win back her favor are heartbreaking, and nothing comes easy for either of the characters. Even when they seem to be warming up to each other, we can feel the distance between them. I was very impressed with how their relationship was handled. It doesn't seem melodramatic or scripted. The Wrestler is an intimate film. We are drawn into Randy's world, and we feel what he feels when he's forced to take a job at the deli counter of a grocery store. We're there every step of the way, and the movie never once takes a wrong step. The screenplay by Robert D. Siegel is brutal and realistic. It's not only painfully honest about our desire to have someone with us in our lives, but it also shows an amazing amount of realism in its subject matter. It understands the world of wrestling, but most importantly, it understands its central character. Randy "The Ram" Robinson is as real as any other character I've come across in a movie the past year. The women in his life are real as well, in the way they recognize and react to his personal strengths and weaknesses. If Rourke's performance is a comeback, than Tomei and Wood's are wonderful additions to their continuing careers.

The Wrestler even manages to end on the perfect note. I'm so used to movies going for the big conclusion or maybe a dragged out dramatic sequence. Here, we get exactly what we need and nothing we don't. How a nearly pitch-perfect movie like this can be passed over for Best Picture, I have no idea. I would gladly see this movie trade places with the mediocre The Reader in the top five nominated slots. For all the press Mickey Rourke has received because of his performance here, it's sometimes easy to forget that this is a great movie as well. This is one of 2008's most unforgettable films.

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