Mickey Rourke 'is' Marv

Rating: 8/10 (22 August 2005)

When I first heard there was going to be an adaptation of Frank Miller's Sin City, I went to my local Borders and picked up both 'The Hard Goodbye' and 'That Yellow Bastard'. I read them and was thinking to myself, 'How can they possibly make this into a movie'? It was violent, daring, and offensive. However, I thought the novels were sensational ('sin'-sational?). Sensations of adrenaline and excitement came from reading the novels. I thought it was because of the film noir qualities, of men in trouble and femme fatales with secrets and violent inclinations. On subsequent readings, I came to realize it was because of the characters (though it was more likely a combination of the two). Not admirable, yet very human characters roaming through the back alleys of Old Town. My favorite characters in the novels I read were Junior/Yellow Bastard (what evil), and the dumb, brutish, totally cool Marv. When I read the novels, they had yet to begin casting any of the major parts. I think they already had Josh Hartnett and Bruce Willis, but no others. So when I was reading, I kept wondering who would be able to harness the raw violence and possible insanity of Marv. When Mickey Rourke was cast, I was a little disappointed, because he hadn't been in any pictures recently and I never really thought of him as a very strong performer. Then, on April 1, I saw Sin City and was blown away by Mickey's performance. As Frank Miller told Robert Rodriguez, Mickey Rourke was Marv. His performance, though unlikely, should garner some sort of acclaim. Golden Globes, maybe? Certainly the Academy wouldn't laud Mickey Rourke for being in a comic book adaptation. They'll ignore Sin City for the acting and focus on the technical bravado, and I think that's a shame, because Rourke really was good in this film. That's all.