Best film of 2008?

Rating: 10/10 (27 December 2008)

... It might be.
As always, I will not indulge in masturbation via the typed word, nor will I give anything away.
(It may be late but DO NOT read Bill "sportsguy" Simmons' column on espn's webpage regarding the movie. He writes things that take away from the overall movie watching experience... and he's a douche.)
This movie was well acted, as everyone has written a million times. Mickey Rourke's entire career arch happened so he could play a role like this in his advanced years. I'm typically not a fan of Aronofsky (nor do I care if that is spelled correctly). I find his movies to be ham-handed and over stylized. I'm a "characters over style" kind of guy... always will be. In this he keeps it modest and documentary-like. Being from Jersey I feel as though he really captures all the nooks and crannies that give the state it's character as he does the with Rourke and Tomei. This film showed a lot of restraint and never took a sappy turn that a Clint Eastwood directed film may have. Kudos on that, Aronofsky.
Oddly this movie is a lot like Rocky Balboa in it's subject matter (ie: it's main character). It sounds absurd but I feel like this is the grittier more realistic little brother of that movie. It hits on similar plot points and similar emotional notes. Am I the only person that dares acknowledge this? Probably but whatever, it's a fantastic movie.