Eh.

Rating: 4/10 (5 February 2009)

Aronofsky is great at showing how normal people can turn sick, disgusting and just downright depraved. This is one of the reasons why I like his work.
But, you know those made-for-TV movies - like the ones they would show on Lifetime ("Television for Idiots")- where it has the same plot, the same kind of characters, the same predictable ending? Well, The Wrestler is just that - except that there's more blood and tits than one is used to watching in these kinds of movies. An hour into the movie, restless, I kept saying "Oh, just die already! DIE!" I don't understand why it took TWENTY years for him to have that epiphanic moment where he figured out that this is it, this is all he is, he can't be anything else. Were there no prior clues to this? Was there no previous glimpse of his failing health? Did he never figure out that he had no one in his life - that he was all alone? I don't understand why this is just ANOTHER movie with strip club scenes. It's not a taboo or shocking subject piece in a movie anymore. It's not titillating to see Disease-Incarnate swaying used up limbs and booties. It's just not. The little respect I had for Tomei instantly disappeared after seeing her desperately shake her ass for the sake of "acting." This wasn't a pivotal role - it was a few lines and being naked. I love how Tomei discussed her role in The Wrestler and all the time she spent thinking and analyzing and critiquing the outfits she would wear. 'Hmmmm.... Rourke is supposed to put a dollar bill in my G-string according to the script, so I should wear a G-string and not Boy Shirts.' She's a smart one! I also thought that Evan Rachel Wood would have more screen time. She did really great - really emotional - but she wasn't on screen long enough! Overall, you must see this movie because of all the press it has received, but it's SO not as provocative or substantial as people are saying it is...