Rourke's "The Ram": One of the best four performances by a man.

Rating: 10/10 (13 March 2009)

Place Brando's Terry Malloy; De Niro's Jake La Motta, Kietel's Bad Lt., and Rourke's Wrestler together, and you have four of the greatest roles a man could emmulate. (One day, I'll describe four great actresses, but of now ...) Each actor allows the character to be a strong man man physically, but suffering through their soulless existence in such a way, that regardless of capturing Oscar gold or not, the performances say what men cannot say about their inner lives.
Alright, Brando is gone, and he left behind "A Streetcar Named Desire" to "The Godfather" and could act out of places actors only dream about, but only in "On The Waterfront" do we we see a young powerful, muscular Brando open up his soul as a conflicted boxer/bum who ultimately finds redemption by betraying his mobbed-up life, and he is left a bloody mess himself for doing so. He's given the 1950's happy ending, but only because of creative forces outside the film, and within the film the soul of a priest/leader played by the now-late Karl Malden.
He receives the love of a forbidden: the sister of the man whom he helped kill only by standingup and taken his blood punishment in the streets. Up until "Last Tangoin Paris' " monologue about his his wife, only "I could have a been a contender ..." is the greatest examination of a bum/hero's soul.
Due to space, I'll put DeNiro's "Raging Bull" performance and Kietel's NC-17 "Bad Leiutentant" individual performances together. Jake LaMotta was a prizefighter who was never alive with soul until he went into the ring and bloodied his opponent. He was a hero in the boxing ring; a bum outside it. Fueled with jealousy, rage, and self-hatred, we see him as both just like Malloy, except there is no true redemption for him. He sold his soul to the sport and his inner demons long ago, and with age, he is left with just an imitation of himself, ironically channeling Brando's Malloy without any true heart.
The Bad "Lt." (he is never given a name in Abel Ferrera's sleeper) is a Catholic and a crooked, whore chasing, drug addict, cop who cries in the nude because he slouches through life with no reason to live, except for one raped nun in this NC-17 drama. It is here that he starts to feel again some sort of redemption process and a glimpse of a soul in his heart. Yes, he is evil, and he winds up a bum's death, but not before, like Malloy, he feels something within his heart. The "Mean Street" boys actually show you their souls through their actions. They carry on Brando's torch in these roles and in their bodies.
Finally, Rourke's Randy "The Ram" Robinson is a collection of these characters. He can only find his soul in a pro wrestling ring, not a boxing one. His reality belongs to the fans and the men who he wrestles. He is a bum, but he is past his prime of commanding main event status. He still draws them in, and could have still could have been a contender ... in life, if he had chosen to be a better human being. He is more tragic than the Lt., because although he is a drug user, he is also a decent man trying to feel something for the forbidden love of a stripper who is fading away from her glory days (just like he is) and a daughter he would love if he knew how to love. Randy and Cassidy, the stripper, can make fantasies for others come true, but somehow if you look at Rourke's and Marisa Tomei's characters, you know that they lost their souls somewhere and are now paying for it. And that's what really good acting is all about: in every movement there is a bit of your soul choosing to live or dying because it can't.
See these movies, see the actors who peel way their souls. Different eras mean nothing to the essence of these Hemmingway-like characters. Each actor has created a character that lives by a code, or a lack of one, that hurts him in the end, and in doing so, creates one of the most articulate pictures of inner turmoil from characters that one expects only grunts or shows.
Before commenting on my comment, review each film -- "On the Waterfront;" Raging Bull", and Bad Lietentant" and you'll see where the "Ram" came from.