Release Date:
January 30, 2009
MPAA Rating:
R
Running Time:
115 min.
Suggested Smoking Method:
Your favorite action figure.

The Wrestler
Reviewed by Tsunami

If a movie was to be graded solely on realism, then “The Wrestler” would go down as one of the greatest movies ever made. Mickey Rourke’s performance is absolutely incredible. He plays Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a former superstar pro wrestler who has now fallen from the grace of sold out events at the Garden to half-filled union halls and school gymnasiums in Jersey. Randy lives in a trailer park and works a second job in the storage room of a grocery store. Despite his hard times, Randy comes off as such a genuinely nice guy that you can’t help but love him.
His main character flaw and the driving force behind the movie is that he can’t let go of his past. He refuses to accept the fact that his wrestling career is over. He juices and gets hair implants all in an attempt to retain his image from the late 80's and early 90's. I mean the guy gets pretty stoked when an 80's hair-metal song comes on the radio (not that I don’t… hair nation is da shit B). Despite his happy-go-lucky personality, there is a deeper sadness that resonates in his facial expressions that make you want to just give this bastard a hug.

After suffering a heart attack and being told he can’t wrestle anymore, Randy attempts to find solace in the beauty of human relationships. He tries to start a relationship with a stripper named Cassidy, played by a still sexy Marissa Tomei, whose life in many ways parallel’s his own. Her real job technically is fake, it’s all about selling a fantasy to people who are dumb enough to buy it (I am quite dumb btw). Randy tries to bold move of trying to date a stripper, only to get shafted to the dreaded “friend zone.” Such a zone of vaginal emptiness is one thing when it’s just some hot chick you want to bang, but if that hot chick is a stripper I would immediately drop the “what the fuck flag” which is pretty much what Randy does.

After listening to the advice of Cassidy he tries to rekindle a relationship with his lesbian daughter Stephanie. Although she hates her father for not being there when she was younger, she eventually warms to the goodness and sadness that lye within Randy’s heart. Unfortunately, just when things with Stephanie start looking good for Randy, he parties a little too hard one night and misses a dinner with her. She tells him she hates him and to never see her again… dyikes!

Randy, feeling completely dejected after being rejected by not only his stripper friend, but also his daughter as well, turns to the one group he knows will love him: that group being white trash wrestling fans. Yes, Randy decides to return to the ring despite his doctor’s warnings that any strenuous activities could cause him to have another heart attack and die.

Darren Aronofsky, the director of one of my favorites “Requiem for a Dream,” proves to be one of the top directors out there. He shoots this movie in a totally different fashion than any of his previous films, relying on hand held cameras to gives the wrestling locker room an authentic and gritty feel. The behind the scenes look at amateur wrestling was quite startling, but it was amazing to see how much respect these guys have for each other and how much they actually beat the crap out of themselves.

My main complaint with the movie, can ironically be contributed to my main praise of that film. That being it is so realistic, that nothing that crazy really happens in this movie. The movie relies heavily on its title character and little on story. With that being said the title character's performance is so moving and the film is shot so well, that it makes up for a serious amount of nothingness that went on in the film.